12/21/24
June 07, 2007
Magic Hire Billy Donovan's Successor: The Orlando Magic have hired Stan Van Gundy as their head coach, giving the Miami Heat draft picks as compensation. If Van Gundy has second thoughts tomorrow and returns to his job as a guy the Heat are paying to ride a desk, the team will be coached by mascot Stuff the Magic Dragon.
posted by rcade to basketball at 09:09 AM - 18 comments
I think VanGundy is a really decent coach. He doesn't get much respect, though, because he's not the slicked-back smooth-talking Pat Riley or the all-the-rage waffler Billy Donovan. The Magic won't suffer from this move on the court, but I hope all this Donovan stuff can die a natural death and the organization isn't constantly measured by a college coach who makes a move then gets cold feet.
posted by dyams at 10:05 AM on June 07, 2007
Donovan made the right choice. His players actually listen to him now, unlike the multi-millionaire prima donna's he would have coached in Orlando. This will definitely help Florida recruiting knowing he's there for the next 5 years. I tip my hat to you, Billy Donovan for realizing the horror you were in for and for staying where you are successful.
posted by wdminott at 10:27 AM on June 07, 2007
Good for Van Gundy but alas my Donovan NBA career is gone forever. No team is going to hide him after what he did last week. The biggest question everyone is raising is about his ability to control players at a higher(NBA) level. Van Gundy has proved before that he can do the job but Donovan may find it harder to coach now in college than it was last year. If I were a player and he did to me what he did to his recruits I would really think twice about playing for him and trusting him when he promises things. Yes, he is now staying at Florida for 5 years but the recruiting end of college business may have changed somewhat because of what he has done...
posted by The Old Man at 11:17 AM on June 07, 2007
I tip my hat to you, Billy Donovan for realizing the horror you were in for and for staying where you are successful. And for looking after you leapt.
posted by THX-1138 at 11:23 AM on June 07, 2007
Lost in all this is the beauty of the phrase "Billy Donovan's Successor".
posted by Ricardo at 11:40 AM on June 07, 2007
Donovan made the right choice. His players actually listen to him now, unlike the multi-millionaire prima donna's he would have coached in Orlando. This is a silly argument. The top college stars -- the kind of players he pursues at Florida -- are just as capable of being difficult as pros. Some of them even come to school expecting only to play for one or two years before declaring draft eligibility and moving on.
posted by rcade at 12:02 PM on June 07, 2007
Donovan made the right choice. His players actually listen to him now, unlike the multi-millionaire prima donna's he would have coached in Orlando. Take a look at the Magic roster. Who exactly is a prima donna on this squad? Dwight Howard? Jameer Nelson? Grant Hill? I tip my hat to you, Billy Donovan for realizing the horror you were in for and for staying where you are successful.
Yes. The horrors of coaching a team that has proven itself capable of getting to the playoffs without you, a young talented nucleus, and will be under the cap with cash to spend in the off-season.
posted by lilnemo at 12:03 PM on June 07, 2007
The thing I still have a hard time understanding is Donovan's preparation leading into the contract signing with Orlando. When it became clear that Donovan had changed his mind and wanted to go back to UF, the Magic said he'd "have to get representation" and initiate the process of voiding of the contract. He didn't have representation already? He didn't have an attorney on his team help negotiate the contract? His agent doesn't have any legal expertise or have an attorney on hand - to assist with a damn good sized contract? They had to go find a lawyer to research the Orlando contract document after the fact to see how he could get out of it? And everything was tortuously on hold until they could get that done? And he signed the contract readily and speedily under these circumstances? Rick Pitino, you may be a city slicker, but you raised up nothin' but a country boy. Coach Donovan, when you get a chance, would you please come on down to the Mayberry courthouse, and we'll have Sheriff Taylor and Deputy Fife help you as best they can. Aunt Bea and Opie will be along after awhile with one of her special blueberry pies. And will somebody please get that poor boy a Coke out of the cooler in Roy Williams' office? His throat must be a little dry right about now.
posted by beaverboard at 12:57 PM on June 07, 2007
Caoch Donovan, when you get a chance would you please come on down to the Mayberry courthouse, and we'll have Sheriff Taylor and Deputy Fife help you as best they can. etc. Pure gold.
posted by THX-1138 at 01:36 PM on June 07, 2007
Donovan definitely comes out of this looking like a hayseed. If he has trouble rebuilding Florida, which I expect he will since it's still a basketball backwater, I'd love to see his Magic screwjob come back to haunt him. How can recruits trust him to keep a commitment now? For me, his reign as a sympathetic and beloved figure in Florida sports is officially over.
posted by rcade at 01:55 PM on June 07, 2007
The sad thing is some NBA GM needing to make a splash will hire him someday. I'll can the inclination to rail against a retread hire and instead say good work Magic.
posted by Newbie Walker at 03:48 PM on June 07, 2007
How can recruits trust him to keep a commitment now? He looks like a flake, but the prohibition against him coaching in the NBA for the next five years is a recruiting plus.
posted by bperk at 03:54 PM on June 07, 2007
Honestly, I fully expect all of this to blow over after two weeks, be referenced to in the beginning of both the NCAA/NBA seasons, and die again, only to return occasionally in the color commentary of Gator games being nationally televised, if the Magic make the playoffs, and on the recycled yearly articles about NCAA coaches and their not panning out in the NBA. It won't affect recruiting, it won't change fan support, and all will go on just as it was. Now, I can see his actions being worthy of the title "douchebagish," but why is everyone coming down on him so hard? I was out of the country for a few weeks and may have missed this, but I never heard him declare he was forever staying at UF. He turned down Kentucky because he likes his place in college hoops, turned down (potentially) a few NBA offers because they weren't the right fit, and at last found one he thought he liked. His lack of research and preparation sure is stunning for a man so often described as extremely thorough and unrelentless, but I've seen several places say he was forced into making a quick decision (which would be unsurprising given Sacramento's wooing of Van Gundy). In the end, I see it as a shot to the very solid reputation he had built, but nothing that makes him an inherently bad person or some selfish asshole that nobody would want to play for.
posted by PublicUrinal at 10:35 PM on June 07, 2007
Urinal, you obviously didn't see his two news conferences where he enthusiastically told us how much he was looking forward to it. The hype around this was huge, and then the Bride ran from the altar and locked herself in her room for 3-4 days while everyone wondered what the ____ was going on. "One, I think that the easy decision for me personally could have really been to stay at Florida and just try to continue to move on, or the next step could be to try to do something that would really challenge me as a person, as a coach and help me grow and help me get better." But, ummm, den, on second thought, how much personal growdt does a guy need, unowhaddimsayin? Heck, that easy ting sounz pretty good right now. Yo, Adrian... Also, the perception is that he chickened out, not had a change of heart.
posted by LostInDaJungle at 04:19 PM on June 08, 2007
"For me, his reign as a sympathetic and beloved figure in Florida sports is officially over. posted by rcade at 1:55 PM CDT on June 7" Gator hater :-). Are you from Georgia or some other hellhole, boy?
posted by Cave_Man at 07:34 PM on June 09, 2007
The Magic are now offering refunds to those who purchased season tickets in the hours after Donovan's hiring.
posted by Newbie Walker at 05:20 PM on June 11, 2007
I think the way Donovan didn't handle it is what is going to continue on well into next year and it may or may not effect his recruiting. Anybody asked Donovan why he said yes in the first place? I certainly don't know why he even considered it coming off a championship year and all the promises he made the new recruits and university. If you weren't a gator hater before think what is going to happen when he starts his league and all the catcalls start coming in from the stands. The newspapers etc... are going to have a real field day with this whole situation.
posted by The Old Man at 06:00 PM on June 13, 2007
An aside to this story: The Magic sought and received an agreement from Donovan not to coach in the NBA for the five years he would've coached the team. Rick Pitino says this will end up helping Donovan and Florida, because other teams won't be able to tell recruits "he's going to leave for the NBA" to sow doubt.