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
We were a minute and a half away from the Finals -- big deal, ... It's about winning a championship.
We were trying to survive. The game got to that point. We had a 20-point lead, they cut it to five. We made a couple of plays and we got out of here.
When it comes right down to it I coached a horrible game. I started the wrong lineup, I made the wrong substitutions and I called the wrong plays.
We're going to go at it (Wednesday) without trying anything new. I think if we ever get to that point where we play them down the road we'll probably have a few other things that they haven't seen.
When we are in the penalty, you have to go to him as much as you can. We kept trying to call his number.
What he does that's so impressive is he sees everybody. He's a lot like (Phoenix guard) Steve Nash. He's so unselfish.
We're a winning team. Right now, that's all we are. And for us to get to another level, then there's going to have to be a tremendous amount of improvement in the overall commitment to a greater effort for 48 minutes.
We know he's a big-time tumbler. He goes hard to the basket. He hits the floor a lot. If he could play he'd be out there.
We are all so quick to judge around here, but the demise of Shaquille O'Neal has been greatly exaggerated. I guarantee you that.
When it went from (26) to nine, I wasn't very happy. I was thinking that the worst nightmare was going to be coming our way. We gathered ourselves very quickly.
We're absolutely finding ways to win. We're making play after play we need to make in crucial situations.
There are universal truths of defensive basketball. If a guy is open, guard him. Don't leave him standing in the corner or out on the three-point line.
When I left, I knew the end was near. I didn't think it was going to be 48 hours. ... Anybody who's been through it, you understand. I've got a job to do and I'm going to do it.
He wants to play, he wants to be out there. We're not being overly cautious, he's got a problem and we just want to treat it. We want to get it right.