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'Billy Ball' alive and well for the Bulls, but don't buy fool's gold

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Billy Donovan doesn’t like the nickname.

“Billy Ball” is a good way to sum up the up-tempo, shoot-from-the-hip style of basketball that the Bulls coach has switched to with this roster this season, but in Donovan’s world he’s just another branch that grew from the tree.

Rick Pitino coached Donovan back in their days at Providence, and then while Donovan was kicking around Wall Street looking to be the next Gordon Gekko, it was Pitino that talked Donovan into leaving New York to join him as an assistant coach at Kentucky.