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
I was concerned about where we'd be, as I'm sure most coaches are coming back (from the All-Star break). We have one game in 10 days, and this was it. We started to play very well at the end of the (first) quarter.
Our guys had tremendous energy to start the game. I hate to say it: Then the game got stopped -- whistle after whistle after whistle.
We played the game very well offensively. So much better than we did (in Friday's loss) against San Antonio.
When you're getting your (butt) kicked you take it and go on to Game 4 (Sunday). That's what it's all about. They were very good and they were kicking our (butts) and we began to look at the officials. Guys have a lot of pride, but to me, that's not what it's all about.
When you're getting your ass kicked, you take it, and you go on to game four. They were very good and they were kicking our ass. And then we began to look at the officials. To me, that's not something you want to do.
When you're getting your ass kicked, you get on to game four. That's what it's about.
You can characterize it however you want to, they are finding ways to win. They make plays at the end of games and that's what it is all about.
We were very fortunate to win. I think we understand that. But you have to win some games like this.
That was a game situation. He's supposed to be on the court, but I had a hard time taking anybody off the court at that time, because we were down and then we went ahead by eight. As a coach, you're going to ride that lineup as long as you can.
I think probably a month ago or two months ago we wouldn't even come close to winning a game like this. We were very frustrated in the beginning with some very good defensive tactics on their part. They were just committed to fouling Shaquille (O'Neal) every single time.
It doesn't matter whether this was the first game or the seventh game (of the road trip). It was a terrible game on our part. They threw a zone at us early, and we acted like we've never seen it before.
When you play in this league, this league will bring you to your knees very quickly if you're not defending and not respecting the game and we almost got caught. Maybe we'll learn a lesson.
When you are getting your (butt) kicked you take it and move on to Game 4. They were doing a great job of kicking our (butt) and then we started looking at the officials. Our guys have a lot of pride, but to me that is not what it is all about.
We have been able to secure one of the most dominant men to ever play the game of basketball as a member of the Heat, ... At the same time, we have gained the flexibility to achieve our ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship.