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
I've seen a lot of plays like that. I coached Magic Johnson.
As (the game) got worse, we started getting stronger and stronger and Antoine made big plays for us, big shots for us. That's what he's capable of doing. He's very explosive.
You can characterize it however you want to, they are finding ways to win. They make plays at the end of games and that's what it is all about.
I think going to him plays right into their hands.
Derek (Anderson) made some big plays coming down the stretch and then we got the miracle. I don't know how the ball ended up in Alonzo's hands, but it ended up in his hands and he dunked it.
We were trying to survive. The game got to that point. We had a 20-point lead, they cut it to five. We made a couple of plays and we got out of here.
When you're casting your ballots for Defensive Player of the Year or All-Defensive Team, there's no doubt. I think people forget about what he's done. He's second in the league in blocks and he only plays 16 or 18 minutes per game. He's really a factor for us. I thought he was the difference tonight.
Strange things happen when you think things are at their worst. I thought Gary (Payton) did a great job of running the offense and making some big plays in the fourth quarter. James Posey had timely shots and two big offensive tip-outs. We had other players step up when we had to.
It came down to one or two plays and we didn't make them.
He's got size. He's very strong. He shoots (43%) from the three. He can post up. He's very methodical. He plays the game until he needs to determine the difference between winning and losing. That's what he's developed into.
In some games, he's going to have to do it. When he plays against Detroit, possibly he's going to have to play (guard) Rip (Hamilton) in those big games.
He plays the game that we need him to play. He is just so committed defensively and offensively on missed shots and loose balls.
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.