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's got to be out there on the floor, consistently. Every time he's not, it takes him out of his rhythm. He's got to be more diligent - and we've got to be more diligent - as to the kind of fouls he takes.
That was the first time I've seen Gary play like Gary in a long time.
Strange things happen when you think things are at their worst. I thought Gary (Payton) did a great job of running the offense and making some big plays in the fourth quarter. James Posey had timely shots and two big offensive tip-outs. We had other players step up when we had to.
If we're going to make any kind of move, this is the time to do it.
The worst thing that can happen is that if you let your mind go for seven days. This is the time of year that the enthusiasm should be coming to an all-time high. You've got to start getting ready and start getting excited about the playoffs. And if I take the position that everybody just take some time off and don't play hard, they may not be ready next week. It's a fine line.
I thought it was the first time Shaquille, in a couple of weeks, really has been running to the rim. We have to get back to that game.
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 we know what we're doing. Coming into the gym every single day and getting a sweat, when you get to this time of the year, you get into really good shape. I don't know if the body needs to sweat every 24 hours or, if at least, it should.
It wasn't about that other trivial stuff. This was a story about the Texas Western players, what they had to overcome. I was there, and there were a whole lot of things I didn't know when I saw the movie. The first time I ever saw them play was at the Final Four. There was no ESPN or anything like that in those days. You know that they're going to put some theatrical stuff in there. But I think it should be mandatory for kids today to watch it.
That's two games in a row that we showed, at a time when we need to show it, a real lockdown mentality defensively. It's not surprising to me if they're committed on doing it. They've done it off and on. Not consistent. It's when the mood strikes them.
This is an entirely different basketball team than I've ever coached. The personalities are different. There's a lot of great things. There's a lot of things that have to be purged. It's just a whole different view. There's a lot of good parts, so it's going to take some time to figure it all out.
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.
It's time for this team to be what I think they can be... what they're capable of being. There's no reason why we can't take it to another level at this stage of the season. You have to take responsibility for who you think you are.
Any time he gets in foul trouble and sits down, that sets him back and sets us back. You have to try to keep him on the floor for normal minutes. But when he gets that third and fourth foul, we get out of rhythm.