# Reports: Billy Donovan expected to accept Magic coaching job



## Enigma (Jul 16, 2002)

> Billy Donovan is expected to become the next coach of the Orlando Magic after he was presented with a substantial contract offer, officials with the NBA team told the Orlando Sentinel.


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-magic0107june01,0,2210050.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

We'll see if it comes true. But is excellent news considering Adelman and Iavaroni were gone.


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## Enigma (Jul 16, 2002)

I was noticing that there are some relative personnel similarities between the back to back championship Gator team and the Magic.

PG: Taurean Green- An undersized quick score first PG who is great in the open court and a very good shooter. He's good at finishing around the rim even though he lacks vertical explosion. However, he gets sloppy with the ball and turns it over too much. He also can get overpowered defensively.

Sounds a bit like Jameer Nelson.


SG: Lee Humphrey- An undersized pure shooter. Has amazing range and just flat out one of the purest shots in the game. Also, has good overall basketball smarts, knows how to move the basketball, and plays better defense than you would think looking at him.

Sounds a bit like J.J. Redick.


SF: Corey Brewer- A very long, athletic, rangy player. A defensive demon. A nuisance for opposing players. A great finisher around the rim who will throw it down on fast breaks or in traffic. An improving offensive game.

Sounds a bit like Trevor Ariza.


Now the individual talents of the bigs are a little bit different, but as a group, the Gators had two post players who could do some damage in Al Horford and Joakim Noah. Both players will swat some shots and there is a dominant rebounder in the group with Horford. Also there is a vet who will come in and do the dirty work and play solid defense in Chris Richard.

Sounds a bit like Dwight, Darko, and Battie.



Now I'm not saying every comparison is perfectly equal or that the Gator players are better than the Magic players or that those players will work as the starters for the Magic or anything like that. I'm just saying there are some relative similarities in there.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Supposedly it is for five-years, $28.5 million (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/nb...t=AsYgIp86gpkHYvZzeDNQwAI5nYcB?urn=nba,35032). That is a good chunk of change for a coach jumping from college to the NBA.


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

Alright! Dwight's game is going to explode even more under him.


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## Duck (Jan 30, 2006)

Hell Yeahh!!! We Got Billy!!!


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## MickyEyez (Aug 25, 2006)

Its Official!!


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## MickyEyez (Aug 25, 2006)

Donovan will be a good fit here IMO... he's got the type of charisma that young players like and he can talk to the players as a coach, and as someone that is open to talk to. 

I really like this, and i have good vibes that it's going to work well... 

Enigma, you are right, and that is the main reason i have said that Donovan is a good fit.


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## rainman (Jul 15, 2002)

JJ Redick probably popped a cool one(Coke of course) when he heard that one.


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## Premier (Oct 30, 2003)

Perhaps the Magic will finally use Dwight Howard properly.


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## deanwoof (Mar 10, 2003)

you know jj is happy being a senior and a winner in college. donovan should give him some burn. 

i am happy though about this outcome. any coach is better than hill.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

From a basketball sense I think this is a good but not great hire. I say it's good only because at least they got rid of Hill and brought in a new face, but it's not great because I think there were better options. Donovan is a nice story, but who knows how he'll be as an NBA coach. He'll bring more attention and maybe more national television and media coverage to the Magic which I guess is a plus, but knows what he'll bring as the basketball coach. For over $6 million a year, this is a big risk.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

I think it will go well. Donovan might not be so great if he were working with a veteran group but he is coming into a relatively young team. If anything he should provide the team with some extra juice (not the Bonds type).

This makes for a great story. Gives Orlando some momentum, some confidence. Now lets see if he can actually be an NBA coach.

I'm not sure how much of a risk financially it really is since DeVos is worth multi-billions anyway.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

JNice said:


> I think it will go well. Donovan might not be so great if he were working with a veteran group but he is coming into a relatively young team. If anything he should provide the team with some extra juice (not the Bonds type).
> 
> This makes for a great story. Gives Orlando some momentum, some confidence. Now lets see if he can actually be an NBA coach.
> 
> I'm not sure how much of a risk financially it really is since DeVos is worth multi-billions anyway.


Risk was probably the wrong word choice. Regardless of how much money the owner has, paying that kind of money (and I'd like to correct myself, I think the deal is actually just under $6 million a year for 5 years) is really putting a lot of trust in this working out. Thankfully he doesn't count towards the salary cap, he pretty much got a MLE deal.


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## lw32 (May 24, 2003)

Donovan does have a good record, and he has done a great job at developing young talent. However, the NBA is a whole different ball game. Time and time again we've seen great college coaches make the jump and fail. I hope Donovan succeeds, but I wouldn't hold my breath. It's a big step to take, but with the right assistants he should be ok. Comparing Orlando to Florida player by player is useless. If he tries to bring the same system into the NBA it'll fail. Hoisting three after three won't help us when we have the big man down low. Donovan is probably smart enough to realize that changes will need to be made to his system, he won't be using his Florida teams offensive gameplans.

I did think the contract was a bit steep, $28 million over 5 years...for a college coach? His stock has obviously sky rocketed after the back to back tourney wins. I can't imagine many other college coaches receive such a deal if they made the jump.

The franchise is always looking for a chummy story. Brian Hill was supposed to be a good story, re-hiring our best coach, another chance, blah, blah. Donovan's another good story. The thing about good stories is nobody gives a **** when you start to under perform.

As for charisma, and being a player's coach. So was Doc. You need to be able to coach too, and continue to motivate. Your messages can't get old, and your motivational tactics need to evolve otherwise the players will tune out. Nobody wants to hear the same stories.

I feel the signing is probably the best option we had this late in the game. There were originally better options, however we acted too slow. Now we'll wait and see how Donovan adapts.


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## sknydave (Apr 27, 2006)

A big shakeup like this is exactly what the Magic needed. They are also in a position to bring in a star player (preferably a guard) and it's time for the inside/outside show to begin. I recently moved to Orlando and although I am a huge Heat fan, I'm looking forward to being at plenty of Magic games!


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## MickyEyez (Aug 25, 2006)

> Billy Donovan sent seismic shock waves from Gainesville to Orlando on Thursday, taking over as Magic head coach and leaving the national champion Florida Gators without the architect of their dynasty.
> 
> After a whirlwind courtship that lasted about a week, Donovan was hired by the Magic just two months after leading Florida to the second of back-to-back NCAA titles -- and mere days before UF was set to announce that he had agreed contractually to extend his stay as the Gators' head coach.
> 
> ...


Donovan Officially Orlando Head Coach


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

lw32 said:


> Donovan does have a good record, and he has done a great job at developing young talent. However, the NBA is a whole different ball game. Time and time again we've seen great college coaches make the jump and fail. I hope Donovan succeeds, but I wouldn't hold my breath. It's a big step to take, but with the right assistants he should be ok. Comparing Orlando to Florida player by player is useless. If he tries to bring the same system into the NBA it'll fail. Hoisting three after three won't help us when we have the big man down low. Donovan is probably smart enough to realize that changes will need to be made to his system, he won't be using his Florida teams offensive gameplans.
> 
> I did think the contract was a bit steep, $28 million over 5 years...for a college coach? His stock has obviously sky rocketed after the back to back tourney wins. I can't imagine many other college coaches receive such a deal if they made the jump.
> 
> ...


Well, you have to keep in mind that a good story like this is not just a good story at this point in time. The Magic are trying to get a new arena and bringing in a marquee coach like Donovan is a very good story, and generates excitement for the team. I don't know how much of a difference it'll really make, but I know it certainly can't hurt. Bringing in Donovan certainly generates a lot more buzz than a guy like, say Marc Iavaroni or even Stan Van Gundy. I think most of us can agree that if we had the choice between Donovan and Iavaroni, strictly from a basketball standpoint it's a no brainer, Iavaroni is our man. But Donovan does more for the team from an overall perspective, which of course is what ownership and management look at. Like it or not, I think it definitely factored in here.


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## Enigma (Jul 16, 2002)

lw32 said:


> Donovan does have a good record, and he has done a great job at developing young talent. However, the NBA is a whole different ball game. Time and time again we've seen great college coaches make the jump and fail. I hope Donovan succeeds, but I wouldn't hold my breath. It's a big step to take, but with the right assistants he should be ok. Comparing Orlando to Florida player by player is useless.


:nonono: I see someone didn't read the last paragraph in that post.


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## deanwoof (Mar 10, 2003)

this is the kind of buzz orlando needs. we need a household name as the face of the franchise. 

now hopefully donovan can use his powers of persuasion to get a free agent for below market value (ie. not max contract) for vince, rashard, or wallace. 

maybe if someone were interested in turk, we could pull some sort of S&T. 

back on topic, go magic !


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## lw32 (May 24, 2003)

And Donovan is gone...wonder if this takes the cake for shortest coach tenure in the NBA.

This franchise sucks.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

lw32 said:


> And Donovan is gone...wonder if this takes the cake for shortest coach tenure in the NBA.
> 
> This franchise sucks.


Bad publicity for sure, but it could be a blessing in disguise. There's a good chance we can hire a better NBA basketball coach now.


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