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 had a handle on him in the first half. But when he starts to drain 27-footers, you have to change things up.
We have a distinct disadvantage, being the fourth game in five nights. But we're playing good; they're playing good. When it really counts, if things were to remain the same as they are today, and we're successful and they're successful in the playoffs, we wouldn't play 'em when it counts for two more months. Things could change a lot by then.
That's our objective, to win one more game. Then we will change our routine.
I don't know if Shaq called him; it could have been the other way around. Double-check who called who and then I think the whole thing might change around a little bit. But that's friendship more than anything else. I can assure you Shaquille wouldn't have went public with it.
When he came to the Lakers, Bob McAdoo told me how much the game meant, how it changed everything, how it opened up the world for black kids in the South. I guess I never really thought of it that way, that we were such a big part of history.
Alonzo had a huge impact on the game defensively, rejecting eight and he probably changed seven or eight others.
Being ready isn't enough; you have to be prepared for a promotion or any other significant change.
I'm sure that everybody will say that I'm just up here trying to complain, but I don't see how he could ever get to the basket. I don't care if he's 340 pounds. They get locked into such a defensive position that they just hold him. ... Impeding his progress. But he's got to find a way to get around that.
I'm tired of hearing it. Tired of hearing about how, well, we keep shooting ourselves in the foot or we're not doing this or we're not doing that. Somewhere, you've got to take responsibility for who you think you are.
I'm really tired of talking about it. I hate to do it, but there's a huge double standard here. He turns in, it's a foul on him. And they're pushing and shoving on him all the time.
The bigger the moment, both of them stepped up even bigger. Sometimes, it's absolutely beyond description. I haven't seen players do that in a long, long time.
The beginning was a disaster, an absolute disaster.
They have to understand when you go to somebody's building it's a big game.
They just kept raising the energy level. I hate to break that up.