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
One thing I'm not worried about is our rebounding.
Nobody knew he was hurt because he wanted the two points on the lay-up so bad. He drove all the way down and dunked the ball, and then blood was rushing out of his nose. That's who he is. He'll fight through anything. I love him, respect him, admire him and I wish more of our guys would take on his attitude.
Last year we understood and found out exactly how lethal injuries at the wrong time can be, so I think we protected ourselves a little bit there. As a matter of fact, I think we protected ourselves big-time in that capacity if we lose a perimeter guy.
Shaq is very active and motivated right now. There's a lot that's been written of his philosophy for the regular season. He really wants it, and he really wants the ball too.
Shaq is in shape. He's back in 26 games. We've been together 46 games. Enough talk about learning each other and coming together. It's time to put up and play, and play against the best teams in the league, especially at home.
Shaq had an off night. In the beginning of the game he had a couple of turnovers (because of) strips, but obviously he could play a lot better than he did today.
Shaq did a great job tonight. We have to make sure he's not in foul trouble and constantly look to go to him.
Obviously we're concerned about everybody's health, based on what happened last year. We've still got 19 games to play. You can't walk around on egg shells, but we do have to be conscious of the maintenance of these guys.
I have a Louisville Slugger in my locker. It's like 42 ounces. We corked it also, with cement.
I hated to break up the energy level we had going early in the fourth quarter.
I feel we're going to be a very good team. This is not a measuring stick at all.
I can't remember ever dealing with something like that over a long period of time. There are always disputes. You have them. But when you carry it that far, anything can go on. But that happens in this league. A lot of it stays in the locker room. We try to keep it in the locker room if we can.
What people don't understand is, last year we had two great players, but you need more talent. You can never have enough talent.
What I want are players who are versatile and do a lot of things,