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
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.
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.
Eddie's always been the kind of guy coming off the bench with great energy, a real pure heart. It's hard to find guys like him.
It's almost a crossroads for me right now, to find the competitive warriors and the competitiveness of those guys will transcend the talent and reputation. I'm going to try to find the guys who are going to try to play the hardest and best in support of our two great players.
I don't think he fights it. I really don't. It's a hard thing to do. But I do think everybody that I have coached that have gotten a little bit older, they realize in order to maintain in this league that they have to do something differently.
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.
It's just good to get this win and get ready for Indiana and the next six or seven games that are coming our way.
Frustration is part of this game. You have to press on. That's it. You can't let that get to you. Welcome to the NBA playoffs.
I think I read a headline today, 'Great players versus a great team', and I hope we do have great players on the way to becoming a great team. I think a win like this today begins to develop a sense of confidence.
His conditioning is the thing. Coming right in to the playoffs and expecting him to play well is unrealistic.
He's a great player, there's no doubt about that.
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.
There's a real heaviness to our team and I feel it. I'm trying to lighten it up. Because there are so many distractions and so many things going on, it's heavy and it wears on guys. We don't want this. We want to win. We are winning, but we're not winning at the rate people want us to win.
He was feeling real free, and we need that from him. That's what we expected when we traded for him, is that we'd have that versatility. Having a great game from Antoine really helps.