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 will get beat tomorrow night if we bring any of the defensive lapses that we had against Seattle.
We got it done at both ends of the court in that fourth quarter. That's the type of effort we need night in and night out.
It's what I like to call a Saturday night special.
When it went from (26) to nine, I wasn't very happy. I was thinking that the worst nightmare was going to be coming our way. We gathered ourselves very quickly.
What we need is all in the head for us. When we are so inclined to really, really get after it as a team, we do. I have been around the game long enough, although I hate to admit it, but sometimes you get bored with all the little things you have to do - especially when you are a veteran team. The thing is that if you really want to be respected and you want to take the step to the next level, you can't do what you did the other night and then come out the next night and not be ready.
He'd average 20 points a game if he was put in that role every night and I'll be damned if I'm not going to try to put him in that role - now. You forget a little bit about how good he can be if he gets good opportunities.
He made the game easy for us. There are nights when there's going to be some real heavy lifting on his part, and there are going to be nights when he has to facilitate. I thought he did a great job in doing that.
The second half was like night and day from the first. We were so far out of sync at both ends of the court. To be quite frank, when we were down 21-5, we were blessed.
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.