<span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%">Donovan Accepts Orlando Job</span><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Billy Donovan has agreed to leave the Gators to coach the Orlando Magic , an official in the NBA told The Associated Press on Thursday.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn't been finalized, said Donovan agreed to a five-year, $27.5 million contract.</div>-RealGMHonestly shocking to hear about this. I thought for sure that he would end up staying with Fla and all. Great news for the Magic. Now if they can go out and sign someone like Lewis this team is gonna be scary.
This is dissapointing, I wish he would have stayed at Florida.... :no1: College to NBA jumps rarely work, hopefully this doesn't blow up.
He's a good coach but I hope he isn't Rick Pitino II. The thing about Donovan is I think that he's patient with younger talent and will be willing to be the teacher for Dwight Howard.
I don't like this idea at all. College coach's most of the time do not translate to the NBA well at all. With Rick Pitino being Donovan's coach and mentor, Donovan's offense and play are alot like Pitino's. So I can't help but think he is going to be the same way at the NBA level, as Pitino was, which is not good. I would have rathered try Stan Van Gundy, and Donovan stay at Florida where he had it made.
I'm shocked that he accepted this like most people, especially considering he had a 7-year deal on the table for him at Florida. College to the NBA is a completely different ballgame. Like Dicky V said, he created a legacy in Gainesville, he should have stayed. So Orlando fired Brian Hill for an unproven college coach? Not off to a great start this summer.
You have to take chances, they, like alotve young teams, wants a younger coach to grow with. I hope it works out for the best, but I can see why Orlando would sign him. As for Donovan, worse comes to worse, he'll be booted outve the NBA and he will become gold in the NCAAB market.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ May 31 2007, 10:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm shocked that he accepted this like most people, especially considering he had a 7-year deal on the table for him at Florida. College to the NBA is a completely different ballgame. Like Dicky V said, he created a legacy in Gainesville, he should have stayed.So Orlando fired Brian Hill for an unproven college coach? Not off to a great start this summer.</div><span style="font-family:Courier New">Well Hill hasn't exactly done a great job with this team. They start off this season great, take a lead in the division and look like they are really going to be a good team this year. Then all of a sudden they look horrible and start losing left and right. I think this was a good move by both Donovan and the Magic. Donovan is loved by everyone in Florida. I think this was the only way Donovan was going to make the jump to the NBA. He obviously loved it in Gainesville and didn't want to leave because he turned down both the Kentucky and Memphis Grizzlies jobs. He said his families in Florida, he loves it and this is where he wants to be. So I think the Magic was the only job he would have taken over the Florida one. Not to mention Orlando is only a hour or two away from Gainesville, so hes really not moving far away from his family and friends. They even said on ESPN that he had to think hard about taking this job, so it must have been really hard for him to leave Florida.</span>
What was wrong with Brian Hill coaching this team? Sure they sort of dissappeared torwards the end of the season, but they were really building chemistry with Hill as the leader and probably could have done much better in '07-08. I guess Donovan is a decent coach, but again, he too has a good situation in Florida even with his key players entering the draft. I wish him luck in the NBA...
He never turned down the Grizzlies. The Griz never offered him the job, just interviewed him. Memphis...and probably Orlandos...number one choice was Iavaroni. Iavaroni picked Memphis so Orlando went with Donovan. Its not a coincedence Orlando and Indiana both announce their new coaches the day after Iavaroni accepted Memphis offer.
I don't know how I feel about this...Magic fans must be pumped but I would have loved to see him go back to Florida to see if he could continue his success. Should be interesting nevertheless.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>So Orlando fired Brian Hill for an unproven college coach? Not off to a great start this summer.</div>Magic are a team that can gamble with a move like this. Besides Brian Hill isn't that great of a coach and seemed to have lost them towards the end of the season. I think there was writing on the wall with Otis Smith that Hill would not be back.
I'm also shocked by this.. I thought once he rejected the Kentucky offer he was a definite at UF next season..
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (WELCOMEtotheJUNGLE @ Jun 1 2007, 07:15 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't know how I feel about this...Magic fans must be pumped but I would have loved to see him go back to Florida to see if he could continue his success. Should be interesting nevertheless.</div>Not all Magic fans are pumped. Me being a big time Florida Gators, and Magic fan, I do not like this at all. He was a god at Florida, and had everything he wanted. He should have stayed there, and continued the program he had started to build. He could have been as big as Coach K at Duke, with a better state for athletes and basketball players to recruit from. For the Magic, as much as I love Donovan and what he did at Florida, I don't like being the ones to test a great college coach that hasn't coached and the NBA level yet. Minus Larry Brown, I can't think of hardly any other coach's His mentor and former coach Rick Pitino didn't do a good job at all when he was a coach at the NBA level. Donovan runs the same playbooks, practices and drills. I can't help but think he will end up the same way, then end up back in the SEC coaching against the Florida Gators.
Not the best pick-up for the money he's getting from college to NBA but definately will improve the Magic.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Not all Magic fans are pumped. Me being a big time Florida Gators, and Magic fan, I do not like this at all. He was a god at Florida, and had everything he wanted. He should have stayed there, and continued the program he had started to build. He could have been as big as Coach K at Duke, with a better state for athletes and basketball players to recruit from. For the Magic, as much as I love Donovan and what he did at Florida, I don't like being the ones to test a great college coach that hasn't coached and the NBA level yet. Minus Larry Brown, I can't think of hardly any other coach's His mentor and former coach Rick Pitino didn't do a good job at all when he was a coach at the NBA level. Donovan runs the same playbooks, practices and drills. I can't help but think he will end up the same way, then end up back in the SEC coaching against the Florida Gators.</div>Once again, great post by Valo, you make incredible points. :happy0144:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Young Legend @ Jun 1 2007, 12:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>They need to go and get Chauncey Billups and/or Vince Carter this off-season.</div>okay?? That's a well thought out plan...
As a Florida Gators fan, this move is rough. The Florida Gators were on their way to potentially emerging as a legendary college program and commanding the respect that a Duke, UCLA, North Carolina or Kentucky does. However, without Billy Donovan(not to mention their entire starting lineup,) I see Florida returning to mediocrity.But as a diehard Orlando Magic fan, and a person who puts my pro team before college, I am ecstatic about this move. I'm actually shocked to see how many people are frowning upon their decision to sign Billy Donovan. When the rumors began circling that Brian Hill was on the chopping block, the coaches that I immediately thought of were Billy Donovan, Jeff Van Gundy, and assistant coaches like Marc Lavaroni and PJ Carlismo. Billy Donovan, in my opinion, was the best case scenario. He's done wonders with the Florida Gators and I believe he is undoubtedly one of the greatest basketball coaches in the world right now. I simply thought that Billy Donovan was a lock to stay with Florida, and that his coming to the Magic wasn't a likely scenario. Now that he has signed with us, it's a dream come true. It seems like everyone's biggest concern is the transition from the college to the pro game, but I'm not worried about that. After watching Billy Donovan do a fantastic coaching job at the University of Florida, I have complete faith in the man. Other great coaches like Larry Brown have had success on both the college and pro levels, and I don't see any reason why Billy Donovan won't do the same. Simply put, the man is an excellent basketball coach, and he was the best candidate available.
