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've noticed a little bit about Chauncey and what Flip has done with this team, he has injected a sense of energy into his team early. Chauncey is no longer just a late-game (shooter). Throughout the course of the game, you've got to be very aware of him, and obviously at the end of the game you've got to deal with him and what's he doing.
We had our down period and we rebuilt. Now, New York is going through their down period. But they've got a lot of talent. They've got a lot of assets. They can start dealing their chips. Because anytime that you don't think that a big-money guy can be traded, it always happens.
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.
(The players) didn't like last night. It was embarrassing. But that's what you deal with. Once you understand what happened, you've got to get on with making those improvements.
It's difficult, but you deal with it. Family is part of your life. And so, I did what I had to do in New York. ... The last four days was about a family crisis. Now it's about Chicago, moving on and trying to get this job done here.
I said that already before. Of course they (ESPN) made big deal of it. That's what they do. But it's the same thing I've told to my beat writers.
You can't worry about it. You are going to see it. They have got to deal with teams that are committed to shutting them down. You have got to get stronger against it.
We just had a hard time guarding the ball on the dribble.
We just had a great first quarter. I mean, it was just incredible. I don't think I've ever seen this team play like that.
We weren't sharp. They came out with more energy and their offense was much more crisp.
We feel very fortunate that we were able to acquire the services of a multifaceted player in Derek Anderson , whom we had interest in this summer before he signed with Houston. We feel that he will be able to play three positions for us, giving us added versatility.
We controlled the game for the most part except for the end of the second quarter. Alonzo had a huge impact on the game defensively. He gave us a defensive lift when we needed it.
I've seen a lot of plays like that. I coached Magic Johnson.
I've spoken to James about it. He understands. He just wants to win and he'll do whatever it takes.