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
What we need is all in the head for us. When we are so inclined to really, really get after it as a team, we do. I have been around the game long enough, although I hate to admit it, but sometimes you get bored with all the little things you have to do - especially when you are a veteran team. The thing is that if you really want to be respected and you want to take the step to the next level, you can't do what you did the other night and then come out the next night and not be ready.
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.
We're absolutely finding ways to win. We're making play after play we need to make in crucial situations.
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.
Our guys have to stop talking about being what they think they are and they've got to do it. I think we've done it a little bit over the last couple of weeks, but enough is enough now.
Our guys had tremendous energy to start the game. I hate to say it: Then the game got stopped -- whistle after whistle after whistle.
Our guys had great respect for this team. They stung us.
I think the overall health is OK. Everybody has something wrong with them but it is not debilitating. We just have to keep our fingers crossed everyday that we can keep everybody on the court.
I think you're going to see that kind of series.
I was confident. I haven't had to use my legs since the eighth grade. I just want to go to states and place.
I was concerned a little bit. We know the NBA when you have a big win on national television. I've seen a half-dozen teams this year have those kinds of wins and the next day get beat by anybody. You just sort of let down. It's natural. We really tried to guard against that.
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.
I was always wondering, when the ball was going that way ... why (Crawford) wasn't looking down the floor. I'll leave that to you. ... It's just a very unfortunate thing for us right now.
I thought we did a great job at the end of finally closing down and forcing some misses. The Bulls are a drive-and-kick, pick-and-roll type of team. They can stay with you if they get open shots.