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 just had a hard time guarding the ball on the dribble.
Eddie's always been the kind of guy coming off the bench with great energy, a real pure heart. It's hard to find guys like him.
That was a game situation. He's supposed to be on the court, but I had a hard time taking anybody off the court at that time, because we were down and then we went ahead by eight. As a coach, you're going to ride that lineup as long as you can.
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're caught between a rock and a hard place.
You can't be happy with the whole disposition of our team in the second half, playing with a 20-point lead and not defending at all. We showed very little respect for all the hard work and good play. I'm happy we were able to win it at the end, but obviously we can't play like that.
It's almost a crossroads for me right now, to find the competitive warriors and the competitiveness of those guys will transcend the talent and reputation. I'm going to try to find the guys who are going to try to play the hardest and best in support of our two great players.
We know he's a big-time tumbler. He goes hard to the basket. He hits the floor a lot. If he could play he'd be out there.
This is to see whether the two years, all the drill work and all the hard work have manifested itself into something positive for him. It should be something he should be eager to do.
This is about an experienced, savvy, talented team which I believe we have taking advantage of the opportunities out there. But one thing they cannot neglect is just how hard (Chicago) is going to play and the kind of effort they're going to have to make to stay with them.
He has a little bit of a slow release on his jumper. He's got to get there quicker, be set a little quicker. ... People are closing on him pretty hard and making him put it on the floor.
I don't think he fights it. I really don't. It's a hard thing to do. But I do think everybody that I have coached that have gotten a little bit older, they realize in order to maintain in this league that they have to do something differently.
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.