Bulls Fan Here - Opinions on Billy Donovan?

[Cabbage bulls]

Last night the bulls were up by 13 at halftime. The Hawk had multiple starters injured. In the 2nd half, the Hawks had Trea Young go at Coby White 1v1 nonstop. Trae was effortlessly getting buckets the entire 2nd half. He didn't have to work AT ALL.

Coby white was getting absolutely torched the entire time. Billy Donovan REFUSED to attempt a double team or trap on Trae. He just let him destroy the Bulls 1v1 the entire damn time. Is this something common with Billy? I've been very disappointed with his defensive scheme so far.

[ThunderBolt]

Plenty of old threads here discussing them. A few likes him but there were more that didn’t. I think most thought he was average at best. He seemed like a nice guy. He says a lot of the right things but often they never manifested themselves on the court. He was constantly tweaking lineups and had rotations that frustrated people. It’s early but most of the fan base is much more excited about Daignault than they were at any time during Billy’s tenure. Perhaps you can also ask the warriors fan that post here about him.

[Old Man Game]

He's pretty average to mediocre I'd say. Seemed particularly bad at in game adjustments and thinking on the fly. He once mentioned that in the NBA you do more coaching than you do in college insofar as you have to constantly be evaluating and making adjustments throughout the game whereas in college you don't do that as much (according to him). I think it was sort of a subtle tell to indicate that he found that part of the job difficult and it sounds like he still hasn't quite gotten it yet.

[cjmcallist]

I have mixed feelings. Agree with the thoughts above.

His first year he unleashed an incredible playoff run. He tapped into the roster so well, I thought he was going to be incredible.

But, those same types of schemes never continued over the next couple years. Hard to know if he has a problem getting players to buy in, or if it’s something else.

But, he’s pretty consistent and very professional. You’ll never have a Boylen situation with him.

[Thabo Sefolosha]

what was the general consensus on Billy D after the 2016 playoffs?

[cjmcallist]

Some excerpts below. Just what I could find...

But in that playoff run, he outcoached Carlisle, Popovich, and Kerr. The GSW loss was due to WB/KD meltdown + Klay's freakout. But, no one questioned the scheme. But this was his peak, it seemed.


From Royce Young, ESPN:

Per ESPN Stats & Information research, Donovan played Serge Ibaka at center just 5 percent of the team's possessions in Games 1 and 2. In Game 3, it was 39 percent. The Thunder outscored the Warriors in Game 3 by 34 and shot 71.4 percent when they went small with Ibaka as the lone big man. The Warriors shot just 33.3 percent against those lineups.

The general line of thinking coming into the series was strength against strength, big versus small. Which identity would win out? Nobody outsmarts the Warriors at small ball. Against the Spurs, the Thunder leaned on their twin-tower look with Enes Kanter and Adams to swing that series. But against the Warriors, Donovan took advantage of the wealth of pieces general manager Sam Presti has put at his disposal. That was always the design from Presti. To navigate the Western Conference, you can't just play one way. There has to be a versatility to the roster, one that can bend different ways in different series.

From Sam Amick, USA Today:

But to see it all come together so quickly, with Donovan’s Thunder downing Rick Carlisle’s Dallas Mavericks in a five-game first-round series win only to stun a Spurs team that won a franchise-record 67 games during the regular season, is something that few saw coming. And Donovan is doing his part in his NBA playoff debut.

His decision to go big against the Spurs, often playing Enes Kanter and Steven Adams together after they’d hardly done so in the previous seven months, helped the Thunder dominate on the glass. His after-timeout, play-call performance – a staple for any of the league’s best coaches – has been stellar. His decision to shorten his rotation was big. Along the way, Donovan has been making the most of the extra preparation time that comes with the postseason.

From Scott Rafferty, SportingNews:

For obvious reasons, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant get much of the credit for the Thunder's success — they're a matchup nightmare for any team, to which their average of 53.7 points per game in the playoffs speaks. But giving them all the credit would be an injustice to Billy Donovan, since he has out-coached both Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr by trusting lineups he rarely used in the regular season and putting role players in positions to succeed. For a first-year head coach, that's a remarkable feat.