Minnesota Sports Forum

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12605160/billy-donovan-florida-gators-contender-nba-coaching-jobs-offseason-sources

didn't realize we went after him so hard last off season

I vaguely remember some discussion about him last summer, but I also didn't know we actively pursued him. Cam must have some insight into Donavan, being a big Gators fan. Cam, do we want him? Would he be successful here? Is he a good defensive coach, and does he understand the 3-point shot? Would he find the Wolves job intriguing?

First and foremost, Billy gets the most out of the talent he has. Want proof of this? Look no further than 2013-14 where a team full of non-NBA talent at UF went to the Final Four, but it's a characteristic of Billy that has been there since he took the Florida job.

Defense? Billy prides himself on having good defense on the floor. If you can't play with your head on a swivel, help the helper, play for your teammate, win the 50/50 balls, you won't see the court until you can. Now, Billy would have to change his schemes a bit to fit the pro level because he loves full-court press and zone from time to time, but I believe defensively he would be fine (good).

Offensively is where I'd have the most hesitancy with Billy. His offense at Florida is super duper basic. Nothing that stands out as something that would carry him successfully in the NBA. I will say this on his behalf, though. When we had Noah/Horford/Brewer/Humphrey/Green, THAT offense was as potent as I can remember in college hoops and it DID emphasize the three. Lots of high screen and roll, lots of post feeds (Horford/Noah/Richard were serviceable on the block) and plenty of ball reversals. Was it just exceptional talent on one college team or Billy showing his offensive prowess as a coach? That remains to be seen. But yeah, if I was going to "worry" about something involving Billy, it'd be offense.

I've had the pleasure of meeting Billy, and he's a very good man. I can say that with the utmost confidence. He also commands respect. He's one of those men that when he speaks, you WANT to listen. No matter what your title is; athlete or stranger. While I'd personally rather he stay at Florida and continue to build upon his impressive legacy (won his 500th game this year), if he was going to leave for the NBA, I'd want to be the team to roll the dice on him.

Cam met Billy? He's more wired in than Lip!

I am all in. Somehow I have a hard time believing he'd leave Florida for Minny unless he was bribed, 5+ million a year. But what a great pipe dream.

Would love to get a younger innovative coach like Donavan. With Wiggins and LaVine, plus a pick that could be the top pick, I see us as a pretty attractive destination.

Thanks for the insights, Cam. I didn't know much about Donovan, so I read up on him. I didn't know he played for Pitino at both Providence and with the Knicks, and served as his assistant coach also. He clearly adopted the Pitino philosophy of pressure defense and three-point shooting. I think we'd be lucky to have him as our coach. The guy already makes $4 million a year, so Glen would have to step up to get him.

I think there are reasons to believe Donovan could coach the Wolves next season.

1) The reports that the Wolves actively pursued him last year tells us that he is on Glen and Flip's approved list.
2) His buyout is only $500K, a pittance if Glen is willing to pony up the $5million necessary to get him.
3) Donovan is like a son to Pitino...Rick has mentored him or hired him since his junior year in college. So, it's not unreasonable to assume he is close to his "brother" Richard who currently works 10 minutes from Target Center.
4) While the Wolves record the past decade seemingly makes them a bad coaching destination, the current core plus a top 4 pick this year has to be attractive to a knowledgeable coach.

I'd be disappointed if Glen and Flip don't have Donovan on speed dial. Let's get this done.

Sounds like a done deal to me. And I guess Izzo ain't coming...

"Donovan is like a son to Pitino..."

I understand that he played and worked with him. But do you really believe being close to his alleged "brother" is going to be the deciding factor in what will amount to be a tens of millions of dollars opportunity?

"Hey, I've been in Florida for 20 years and could stay here in Orlando... maybe even have a better future, but the opportunity of working near Rick's son... only 1,200 miles away from Rick is too good to pass up."

And Donovan turned down the gig once. Wiggins is here. I know we're all high on Wiggins to varying degrees... but is that enough to draw a signature name... especially when any coach is going to have to work for the former coach who's going to have his own ideas?

Hmm...I guess I must have missed the part where I said working in the same town with Richard Pitino was "the deciding factor" in Donovan's decision. I just threw it out there as an interesting tidbit in case Donovan is presented with an opportunity to coach the Wolves. Personally, I know that if I were thinking about uprooting my family (Donovan has 4 kids) and moving to another city, knowing someone in that town would certainly make the transition easier.

But clearly more important will be the job itself and the money. Taylor is cheap with draft picks when he chooses to sell them, but I have never found him to be cheap in any of his other dealings. Not once have I heard him tell his PBO he can't make a move because it would be too expensive, unlike the baseball team that plays next door. So, I would expect Glen to cough up the $5 million other first year coaches like Fisher and Kerr got, a nice bump over the $4 million he's getting in Florida. The real issue is the quality of the job. Moving to a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 11 years is a tough sell. But on the other hand, having young talent like Wiggins, LaVine, Rubio and Towns/Okafor to build around has to be enticing.

Last week one of the Wolves' minority owners told me Glen and ownership were pleased with the job Flip is doing, and Glen reiterated again today in Hartman's column that Flip can coach as long as he wants. But he also reiterated that he would like PBO and coach to be two different guys, so I think this story has some legs.

longstrangetrip wrote:Hmm...I guess I must have missed the part where I said working in the same town with Richard Pitino was "the deciding factor" in Donovan's decision. I just threw it out there as an interesting tidbit in case Donovan is presented with an opportunity to coach the Wolves. Personally, I know that if I were thinking about uprooting my family (Donovan has 4 kids) and moving to another city, knowing someone in that town would certainly make the transition easier.

But clearly more important will be the job itself and the money. Taylor is cheap with draft picks when he chooses to sell them, but I have never found him to be cheap in any of his other dealings. Not once have I heard him tell his PBO he can't make a move because it would be too expensive, unlike the baseball team that plays next door. So, I would expect Glen to cough up the $5 million other first year coaches like Fisher and Kerr got, a nice bump over the $4 million he's getting in Florida. The real issue is the quality of the job. Moving to a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 11 years is a tough sell. But on the other hand, having young talent like Wiggins, LaVine, Rubio and Towns/Okafor to build around has to be enticing.

Last week one of the Wolves' minority owners told me Glen and ownership were pleased with the job Flip is doing, and Glen reiterated again today in Hartman's column that Flip can coach as long as he wants. But he also reiterated that he would like PBO and coach to be two different guys, so I think this story has some legs.

I found the mention of it as any type of factor to be worthy of a chuckle.