'WWBD' - What Will Billy Do? Gators will be watching
Wednesday, October 28, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Football, Chris Harry
Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan flanked by superstars Kevin Durant (left) and Russell Westbrook (right).
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida basketball team has Wednesday off, which means they'll likely be on a couch someplace when a certain coach's NBA career officially tips off tonight.
Billy Donovan, who led the Gators to unfathomable heights over 19 seasons and recruited all but one player on the current UF roster, makes his regular-season debut with the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs. The game, set for 7 p.m., will air on ESPN, but because it's the NBA don't expect Donovan to be one of the marquee storylines of the broadcast. With the comeback from injury and pending free agency of Kevin Durant, the ascension of electrifying point guard Russell Westbrook and the Spurs welcoming prized offseason acquisition LaMarcus Aldridge, the “Billy D” story is merely a sidebar.
Except if you're a Gators fan.
Or player.
“I want to see how Coach D does,” senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith said. “I want to see if he throws any of our sets in there.”
Like “Motion High Special,” “Baseline Runner” and “45” and “54.” Those were all halfcourt staples of the UF repertoire under Donovan and now will be run featuring two of the five best players in the world. 
“I definitely think '54' will work really, really well,” senior forward Alex Murphy said of the high-ball screen set, where the 5 sets the pick, rolls and is replaced by the 4 (versus “45,” which is a pick-and-pop with Durant the likely 4-man. “Basically, I think they'll run stuff just to get those two guys the ball in space. In the NBA, with the defensive three-second rule, it changes everything. It's about getting those guys in areas they feel most comfortable.”
Murphy smiled.
“I mean, it's Durant and Westbrook,” he said. “Sounds like a pretty easy job to me.”
Certainly a different job than the one Donovan, who turned 50 in May, held since 1996. Where college basketball is about the coaches and recruiting, the NBA is all about the players with the fat contracts. Yes, the coaches have a pivotal role, but even Phil Jackson took a backseat to Michael, Kobe and Shaq while amassing his 11 world championships.
Yet, here's what Westbrook, who was fourth in the 2015 MVP voting, had to say about the offense Donovan brought to the Thunder; an offense many a talking head and analyst had projected for years would work ideally at the next level.
“Definitely more space,” Westbrook said. “Guys are in position where they can score the basketball. The space is essentially good for myself and for guys that can shoot the basketball, roll to the basket. You can use your strengths very well.”
Donovan hired a pair of former NBA head coaches, Mo Cheeks and Monty Williams, as assistants (one specializing in offense, the other defense), but also as confidants. Excellent move. The transition will be substantial, especially with the day-to-day dealings of an 82-game season (plus playoffs). Even for a future Hall-of-Fame coach.
“That'll definitely be different for him,” junior point guard Kasey Hill said. “He won't be with them like he was with us.”
Translation: “He's not [cussing out] Kevin Durant,” Finney-Smith said.
Or Westbrook?
“Oh, hell no!” Finney-Smith said, laughing.
Heck, Donovan already has made one radical change with his in-game operations. He keeps his suit jacket on through the contest. For nearly two decades at Florida, that thing was shed before tip-off.
Makes you wonder what else he'll do differently. Murphy, for example, thinks the “mad Billy faces” will be few. After all, a coach can only get so upset with one possession, one quarter, one game, one loss when it's just one of 82.
“And I think that will be a big adjustment for him,” Murphy said. “What happens when he loses two or three in a row? How's he going to react? He's so competitive and hates to lose so much. But he's also really, really smart. He'll figure it out.”
