Billy Donovan Postgame Interview | Cleveland Cavs vs Chicago Bulls – 2.28.24
Team because what he did tonight with no really prep for those kind of minutes what did you what are you impressed yeah you know I think the one thing with him which you know you get a chance to follow those guys when they down in the
G league but I think the other part for him is you know where he’s played and where he’s from he’s played in a lot of big moments in a lot of big games and a lot of pressurized situations so obvious had to know he was going to play like
That but you know besides the shots that he made I thought that the the free throws you know were were huge I think maybe at that point time it was a four-point game and you know he knocked down both of them so I’m happy for him he’s really really worked hard and I
Think for any young player when they get the opportunity and for their first opportunity to go like that you know um he’s a great guy and you know obviously uh helped us immensely tonight you said this before about uh dear but his ability to come up when it counts the
Most I mean he plays what 48 minutes tonight and scores 11 points in second overtime what what kind of quality special quality is that for him to kind of dig down deep and and provide at those moments you know I think you know a lot of guys you take regulation where
He had that opportunity and you can you know just being around him you know you could just see the wheels turn he has a great ability to kind of even shift mentally to go to like a different level and different level of concentration and really slow things down and uh he kind
Of moves to the next thing pretty pretty well and um you know he obviously the three when we were late in the clock there early in the second over time you know gave us a five-point lead um I thought there was some opportunities quite honestly even when he went
Downhill I think in the first overtime that maybe there was contact and a couple jump shots but he has a great ability to kind of focus and stay incredibly calm and just just just has got incredible Poise in those situations Billy I’ll be played I think something like 6 minutes coming in tonight
Obviously you guys are short-handed so that kind of helps this cause but what was it that that gave you the trust to have him in there cuz you had him in there some crucial moments of the game obviously yeah I mean I thought he was
Playing well you know for one um I think the other thing too is we were elected to go with Andre um and Vu you know one of the things that happens when they’re big like that is they’ll move around matchups and a lot of times they’ll put
A lot of size on tomorrow they’ll put Moy on or someone like that and I think with Andre and and vu in the game together at least you know they’re going to match up with our two bigs and um you know they obviously changed and went to
A little bit more of a conventional lineup um and then taking drum off the floor in that situation I just thought with the way he was playing he was the you know the most logical choice at that point in time what can you say about your rebounding effort 74 rebounds just
Like most in years in the NBA you crash that offensive blast so much too yeah I mean I think Andre you know what he did on the glass was just you know tremendous that’s what he’s done you know for his career everybody knows he’s a an elite rebounder um when he’s down
There you know I think the one thing that happens a lot of times for him is when we are big you know sometimes him having to screen and roll um is eliminated because a lot of times V could be up top and he’s kind of working along the Baseline and he’s such
A great wedge rebounder um that he can gen generate a lot of extra possessions for us but I thought those two guys in particular and we had some guards get in there with some loose balls but I thought those two guys in particular on the backboard fuch and drum did a terrific
Job thanks coach yep
Billy talks about Bitim, a guy he’s who’s only played 6 minutes all season, but contributed heavily for a win and logged 26 minutes against Cleveland
