Billy Donovan

It's not so much we need to come down and take a shot in the first six seconds. But what we need to do is initiate our offense in the first four or five seconds, so we have some time to work off each other and we have more time on the clock to do more things.

We all have feelings, we all have emotions.

It is really hard to win in this league if you don't do three things: If you don't win the free throw battle, the rebounding battle and the turnover battle, it's really difficult.

I think anytime you are in a team setting and there is any kind of acknowledgement, per se, I think it's always a reflection of the coaching staff and the players and the organization, in my opinion.

You want to be able to make deep runs in the playoffs.

DeRozan is a very high IQ player.

Lonzo to me is as good as an advanced passer as there is. In order to play to his strengths, we've got to get out to enable him to get his passing into the game. He is really, really good in getting it up the floor.

I do feel like Oklahoma City was incredibly open and honest with me.

It was five great years in Oklahoma City.

I think it's always emotional when you leave a place that you enjoyed working with the people you were working with.

When players leave, you gotta be aligned with the people that are in charge and the people you're working with every single day.

You try to get every little possible advantage you can. And sometimes for the officials, it's really really hard to officiate the games. I do respect the fact that the officials have a hard job to do.

I do think officiating an NBA game in the playoffs is so hard, because you have such incredible familiarity. All the coaches do is sit around and watch tape. The players know everybody's plays and what they're running. They know what's coming. You try to get every little possible advantage you can.

I can't tell you I was OK with getting dressed up in a cowboy outfit. When you're 20 years old it's kind of corny.

From a philosophical standpoint, there's certain things I really, really believe in offensively that would probably be broad-stroke things.

Your roster's gonna change. It's kind of part of it in the NBA.

There's certain things you have to do habitually every single night that the game needs you to do.

What happens in pressure situations is most teams revert back to your habits.

Every player is not going to have the chance to do everything that they want to do. But how do you mesh all of those guys together to get the whole to be better than the sum of the parts as a team? That would be my philosophy.

That's what you've got to be able to do is create good shots.

The history, the organization, what the Bulls have meant to the game of basketball and basketball worldwide, I mean, it's an iconic franchise.

If someone throws a life raft out there, you have to actually swim to it. You can't say bring it to me.

I think as young players, when you have experienced losing, it can beat you down.

I had to earn respect.

College would be better off if they adopted some of the NBA stuff, in my opinion.

That's what I really believe in, ball movement, player movement, extra pass.

I always felt from an NBA perspective, just because of the amount of time coaches spend on the game, they're a lot further along than college coaches in terms of the nuances.

I have never been a big believer in payback.

There's always a time and a place that, with certain guys, elite players offensively, you're going to iso them, put them in situations.

There's always going to be something about coming back to New York because I'm from New York. It takes me back to my childhood.

I put in enormous time in the gym. I was not going to look back with regret that I should have worked a little harder, listened a little more. When my playing days ended, I never had a regret walking away because I knew I got everything I possibly could out of myself.

I was very fortunate growing up because I always felt I was dealt with directly and honestly. A lot of those things I was hit with directly were very humbling, very hurtful. But it was the truth and forced me to take personal accountability instead of trying to deflect blame.

The greatest things I learned from Coach Pitino were personal accountability and taking responsibility, dreaming big and the importance of self-esteem and putting time in.

You just want to make sure your formula analytically going against teams that are maybe high volume three-point shooting teams is not putting yourself at a deficit.

I certainly believe in fast breaking on missed shots. I believe in getting down the floor because the most effective shot in the game besides layups and free throws is transition points.

What you don't want to be is a team that analytically can't win. What I mean by that if you've got teams taking a lot of threes and maybe you're not taking as many.

A lot of times when you probably come into the NBA as a younger player, you're gonna probably build your habits based on your veteran guys.

I've always felt as a coach that the best thing for the game in our country is to have a universal way it's played.

If you have a shot and someone's got a better one, move the ball.

I feel very blessed and fortunate that a lot of times in jobs it can be the same old mundane thing. It's not that way in coaching.

If you want to be very, very good and continue to get better, there is no shortcut to that.

I may come into the same office every day, but every day provides something new, and I find that to be great.

One thing I always love about coaching is that every season is totally different.

I really didn't know after leaving Oklahoma City what the future would hold.

Zach LaVine is a guy that's got great offensive ability and can create his own shot.

I've always tried to take the approach of how do we get better today? How do we maximize today?

I recruited Wendell Carter a little bit out of high school, so I am familiar with him when he was younger. He's a very, very high character, talented big man.

We all have experiences in our life that we can share and help each other get better in.

Anytime you're working with somebody, are you always going to agree on everything? No.

Too often we all got caught up in who is going to go pro on a certain team.