Pat Riley
Pat Riley
Patrick James "Pat" Rileyis an American professional basketball executive, and a former coach and player in the National Basketball Association. He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995 and head coach in two separate tenures. Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams, four with the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the Heat...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth20 March 1945
CityRome, NY
CountryUnited States of America
He was absolutely great. He did things I haven't seen him do for a couple of years. He's got a lot of energy and he's taking two or three people to the rim. He's picking people apart.
The bigger the moment, both of them stepped up even bigger. Sometimes, it's absolutely beyond description. I haven't seen players do that in a long, long time.
The upside is there could be absolute power dominance inside. But the downside is somebody could say, 'OK, you're going to go big, I'm going to go with five guards -- one shooting center and four guards.' And then who's going to beat who first?
They were a step ahead of us because of their effort and their energy and their absolute desperation to make the playoffs. When you get a team with that frame of mind, they are going to be a step ahead of you.
They played an absolutely great game. They did what they had to do defensively. It didn't help us that Shaquille got in foul trouble. Any time he gets in foul trouble and has to sit down, it sets us and him back.
People got a view of absolute greatness. It's absolutely beyond description. I haven't seen players do that in a long time.
The guy was absolutely on a torrid pace. We knew that, but we didn't come out and jump on him and shut him down. As a matter of fact, we played him rather passively.
It was an absolute eye-opener. I've seen a lot of great quarters. I don't think I've ever seen one exactly like that where a team hits nine 3s (actually eight). We didn't play well, we didn't play with great desire and we got our heads handed to us for the second game in a row.
I coached an absolutely awful game; terrible game plan, pick-and-roll schemes; everything.
The beginning was a disaster, an absolute disaster.
The worst thing that can happen is that this thing goes to seven games and maybe we'll have him absolutely healthy. But we're planning on trying to go up to Chicago and closing this thing out.
The worst thing that can happen is that this thing goes to seven games and maybe we'll have him absolutely healthy. But we're planning on trying to go up to Chicago and closing this thing out.
This is to see whether the two years, all the drill work and all the hard work have manifested itself into something positive for him. It should be something he should be eager to do.
I think they have great respect for New Jersey. They are a very effective team right now and they're developing a lot of confidence.