RIP Billy Donovan Era

cjmcallist · Post #1 » by **cjmcallist** » Wed Sep 9, 2020 11:23 am

I, for one, liked Billy. Thought he was a good hire and did a good job - not great - but good job. His tenure ended poorly though, the last game especially was a pretty tough coaching performance. I think he'll do well elsewhere.

For our next coach, I hope we don't go the cheap route. Would love to see them bring in a third party. However, I suspect Presti has been grooming someone from within.

spearsy23 · Post #2 » by **spearsy23** » Wed Sep 9, 2020 6:53 pm

Watch on YouTube

Post #3 » by **ThunderBolt** » Thu Sep 10, 2020 1:43 pm

spearsy23 wrote:

Watch on YouTube

I’ve never noticed your signature until today . I had a good chuckle.

getrichordie · Post #4 » by **getrichordie** » Thu Sep 10, 2020 4:30 pm

some candidates I'd consider:

Stan Van Gundy
Mike Brown
Sam Cassell
Wes Unseld Jr.

spearsy23 · Post #5 » by **spearsy23** » Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:06 pm

Svg and Mike Brown? But why?

getrichordie · Post #6 » by **getrichordie** » Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:09 pm

spearsy23 wrote:Svg and Mike Brown? But why?

SVG has a lot of basketball experience and has watched a ton of basketball and has a great understanding of the game.

Brown because he has been apart of the Warriors' historic run and has been an assistant coach for 3 championships. He's worked up close and personal with Kerr's offensive system and modern small ball for a handful of years now so I'd like to see what he can bring to the table.

Post #7 » by **ThunderBolt** » Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:29 pm

getrichordie wrote:
SVG has... watched a ton of basketball...

Do you think he puts this on his resume?

getrichordie · Post #8 » by **getrichordie** » Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:48 pm

ThunderBolt wrote:
getrichordie wrote:
SVG has... watched a ton of basketball...

Do you think he puts this on his resume?

Does it matter?

Galloisdaman · Post #9 » by **Galloisdaman** » Fri Sep 11, 2020 12:22 pm

OKC offered Billy a 2 year extension before the restart. Billy declined it.

Post #10 » by **slick_watts** » Fri Sep 11, 2020 2:28 pm

SVG or someone like him would be too strong a personality for sam presti. and they would want more personnel input than i think sam presti would prefer.

Post #11 » by **slick_watts** » Fri Sep 11, 2020 2:31 pm

i thought billy donovan did a good job. no coach is going to satisfy everyone or make decisions everyone likes. most coaches are just bodies. only the extreme outliers lower floors or raise ceilings. i don't think billy was either of those but at the end of the day i preferred him over scott brooks. i thought billy's ability to make changes on defense was underrated, and we always had strong defenses despite the presence of numerous defensive leaks in our rotations and some serious roster turnover.

also just a class act, and a great person to have representing the organization.

cjmcallist · Post #12 » by **cjmcallist** » Fri Sep 11, 2020 2:58 pm

slick_watts wrote:i thought billy donovan did a good job. no coach is going to satisfy everyone or make decisions everyone likes. most coaches are just bodies. only the extreme outliers lower floors or raise ceilings. i don't think billy was either of those but at the end of the day i preferred him over scott brooks. i thought billy's ability to make changes on defense was underrated, and we always had strong defenses despite the presence of numerous defensive leaks in our rotations and some serious roster turnover.

also just a class act, and a great person to have representing the organization.

I generally agree. I am confused though, why he could always produce a solid defensive scheme, but could never replicate it on Offense.

But his defense he deployed in his first Playoff Run was fantastic - same for this year's playoffs.

cjmcallist · Post #13 » by **cjmcallist** » Fri Sep 11, 2020 3:02 pm

getrichordie wrote:some candidates I'd consider:

Stan Van Gundy
Mike Brown
Sam Cassell
Wes Unseld Jr.

Don't know anything about Wes Unseld Jr, but would hesitate on the other three. No real facts though, just opinions on each.

I do wonder - assuming a 4-6 year timetable to return to winning - will this coaching hire be the same we expect to take us to the finals?

It seems increasingly hard to find a coach who can develop a young team AND coach through a championship run.

getrichordie · Post #14 » by **getrichordie** » Fri Sep 11, 2020 5:48 pm

cjmcallist wrote:
slick_watts wrote:i thought billy donovan did a good job. no coach is going to satisfy everyone or make decisions everyone likes. most coaches are just bodies. only the extreme outliers lower floors or raise ceilings. i don't think billy was either of those but at the end of the day i preferred him over scott brooks. i thought billy's ability to make changes on defense was underrated, and we always had strong defenses despite the presence of numerous defensive leaks in our rotations and some serious roster turnover.

also just a class act, and a great person to have representing the organization.

I generally agree. I am confused though, why he could always produce a solid defensive scheme, but could never replicate it on Offense.

But his defense he deployed in his first Playoff Run was fantastic - same for this year's playoffs.

Roster. Complexion.

Post #15 » by **ThunderBolt** » Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:04 pm

I hope billy ends up in Houston.

spearsy23 · Post #16 » by **spearsy23** » Tue Sep 15, 2020 12:28 am

ThunderBolt wrote:I hope billy ends up in Houston.

That would both be insanity and oddly a pretty good fit. Maybe send Adam's too and harden can run an occasional pick and roll

ImSlower · Post #17 » by **ImSlower** » Tue Sep 22, 2020 11:37 pm

Hey guys, just came over from the ol' Bulls board to ask your opinions on Donovan's coming to Chicago. Our first established head coach hire since Scott Skiles, so a lot of Bulls fans are happy to see someone they have a fair idea of. That said, I realized that I know very little about Donovan other than his success at Florida, and generally managing to produce winning teams for your Thunder.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you guys think we're in for? Will he thrive with a new FO backing him? And, more interestingly, what do you think he'll do with this roster (albeit we might see major trades before next season). Will he use LaVine, Markkanen or Young differently than our previous clown coach? Thanks in advance. It sure was fun to watch CP3 lead your young guys to some fun wins. Always find myself rooting for your squad, seems like.

mr570 · Post #18 » by **mr570** » Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:15 am

Billy's a good coach. Great developmental coach and navigated an annually tough division with a different squad pretty much since 2016. That's no small thing.

I think the frustrating things about Billy were his stubbornness with rotations and lineups/lack of creativity on offense in the playoffs. He made some questionable decisions throughout every playoff run the Thunder had and it really hurt the consistency of some guys and definitely the team.

ThunderCeltic · Post #19 » by **ThunderCeltic** » Wed Sep 23, 2020 6:03 am

Glad to finally get rid of Billy "Never Could Toe The Mark" Donovan.

Watch on YouTube

Post #20 » by **Andre Roberstan** » Wed Sep 23, 2020 3:24 pm

ImSlower wrote:Hey guys, just came over from the ol' Bulls board to ask your opinions on Donovan's coming to Chicago. Our first established head coach hire since Scott Skiles, so a lot of Bulls fans are happy to see someone they have a fair idea of. That said, I realized that I know very little about Donovan other than his success at Florida, and generally managing to produce winning teams for your Thunder.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you guys think we're in for? Will he thrive with a new FO backing him? And, more interestingly, what do you think he'll do with this roster (albeit we might see major trades before next season). Will he use LaVine, Markkanen or Young differently than our previous clown coach? Thanks in advance. It sure was fun to watch CP3 lead your young guys to some fun wins. Always find myself rooting for your squad, seems like.

If anything, I think his biggest asset is probably his flexibility (not tactically, but strategically). He's been able to deal with several very different teams in terms of focus and types of players. He's not a D'Antoni where you really need to give him the sort of players he wants to run his system.

I don't know that he's any sort of tactical genius but his guys seem to love him, he has a good rep at the college level with a young team and he'll get buy-in. He'll do well in Chicago.

Not that the bar's been set that high.

Who will the new head coach be? Post why in the comments...