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 think people got a view of absolute greatness, back and forth. The bigger the moment, both of them stepped up even bigger and bigger.
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.
I think he is a week away from conditioning.
I think he has helped all of us. Whether or not Phil Jackson is correct? That is up to you to discern, not me.
We just couldn't stop Vince. We put two or three different guys on him. We tried to guard him the best we could. But Vince Carter is a great player. He's a runner and when he elevates, he can get above big guys.
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 feel his decision to come back is going to be critical toward our success and goal of winning an NBA championship. We have the utmost respect for Alonzo and he deserves to be part of this championship run.
We were very fortunate to win. I think we understand that. But you have to win some games like this.
We're all banged up a little bit. They're sore, guys are sore.
We played at a real high level again. Tremendous amount of energy, spirit and ball movement, but we didn't finish. That disturbs me and it should disturb our players after working so hard and playing so well.
We do not have any answer for that team. And right now, we don't have a defensive game to realize what it is exactly you need to do to stop that.
We're caught between a rock and a hard place.
I think going to him plays right into their hands.