2007 Billy Donovan Florida Gators Basketball Sets
Yesterday Billy Donovan made it official that he is leaving the University of Florida after 19 seasons to take over as Head Coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Getting the chance to coach a team that features Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, two superstars in their prime, is a situation that does not happen. You can’t pass it up.
In light of this news I decided to look back at Billy Donovan’s best team at the University of Florida; the 2006-07 squad that won its’ second National Championship in a row. This was the quintessential team, sharing the glory and truly making the whole better than the sum of its’ parts. The starting 5 all averaged double figures, scoring between 10.3 and 13.3 points per game. Their 2 future NBA All-Star big guys, Joakim Noah and Al Horford, both shot 61% from 2 point range. Their starting backcourt of Taurean Green and Lee Humphrey were deadly from 3 point range. Humphrey shot a scorching 46% from 3 while Green shot 41% from deep and averaged almost 4 assists per game. The 5th starter was longtime NBA role player Corey Brewer who shot 54% from 2 point range while finishing 1st on the team in steals and 2nd in assists.
As you can imagine their offense as a whole hummed along. Billy Donovan has long been praised for “running and NBA offense.” What this essentially means is he gives his players freedom to make plays while relying heavily on ball screens and floor spacing. This team was no different as they ran the pillars of an efficient NBA offense: ball screens, open 3’s out of ball screens and post up opportunities for their bigs. Their tournament motto was actually “layups, dunks and Lee Humphrey,” referring to the high percentage shots they wanted.
This particular group finished 1st in the country in field goal percentage at 53%. They were 3rd in 1st in 2 point percentage as well at 59% and 9th in 3 point percentage at 41%. They were 6th in the country in total assists and 3rd in the country in total points.
The following sets and diagrams show 3 simple sets the Gators ran in the 2007 Final Four that led to high percentage shots. The first set is a simple flat ball screen. The defense levels the ball screen in hopes of corralling the ball handler. In each clip, Taurean Green makes the correct read. The first two he throws a great drag pass to the big on the perimeter who ends up reading the help and finds an empty 3 point shooter on an empty side of the floor. In one of the clips his defender goes under the screen and he elevates for the open jumper.
The second set is a Horns formation that ends up getting Al Horford isolated on the left block with him and Joakim playing a 2 man game on one side of the floor. In the 3rd and final set, Florida uses a ball screen up high and a guard to big block to block screen to get Joakim Noah the ball on the right block. Sharp shooter Lee Humphrey is in the strong side corner making it hard to dig off of him, and Noah ends up drawing the foul.
Few final thoughts on some stuff I noticed from watching these clips. First, the offense Billy Donovan ran here and in the following years at Florida is very similar to what you will see run in the NBA. Expect the Thunder to have excellent spacing next season. Second, I know my basketball watching days only go back about 15 years or so, but I would still take this Florida Gator team to win 1 game against any other college team during that time period. The Duke team of 2001 featuring Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy, Carlos Boozer and Jay Williams is second. And finally, after watching the Ohio State vs. Florida National Championship game, it is easy to see why Portland took Greg Oden #1 overall. Yes Durant has turned into a Hall-of-Famer, but Oden’s ability to protect the rim and his agility was absolutely breathtaking. And he was doing it against a front-line of 2 future NBA All-Stars.
Follow Coach John Zall on Twitter!!!
Coach John Zall just completed his first season as an Assistant Coach at Division II Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH. This past season Franklin Pierce University won 20 games and advanced to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. Zall arrived at Franklin Pierce after spending the past 3 seasons as the Associate Head Coach/Head JV Coach at O’Bryant High school in Roxbury, MA. During his tenure at O’Bryant the program improved from 4 wins to 12 wins and qualified for the MIAA State Tournament twice.
Coach Zall also has experience as an AAU Head Coach for the Boston Warriors. As Head Coach for the Warriors his team won the 2011 16U State Title and twice competed in AAU Nationals down in Orlando, FL. On top of being a student at Northeastern University, Zall was named Head Coach of the Men’s Club Basketball team for the 2012-13 season. During his lone season as Head Coach, Northeastern finished second in the Northeast Regional Tournament featuring colleges from throughout the East Coast. Coach Zall has also spent time as a Head Coach in the Bay State Games where his team won the Bronze Medal in 2012 and at various camps including: Five Star, Boston Celtics, NIKE, Franklin Pierce University, Hoop Group and The Elite 75.
Click on the pdf link to download 2007 Billy Donovan Florida Gators Basketball Sets
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