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 great first quarter. I mean, it was just incredible. I don't think I've ever seen this team play like that.
I've seen a lot of plays like that. I coached Magic Johnson.
People got a view of absolute greatness. It's absolutely beyond description. I haven't seen players do that in a long time.
That was the first time I've seen Gary play like Gary in a long time.
It doesn't matter whether this was the first game or the seventh game (of the road trip). It was a terrible game on our part. They threw a zone at us early, and we acted like we've never seen it before.
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.
It was an absolute eye-opener. I've seen a lot of great quarters. I don't think I've ever seen one exactly like that where a team hits nine 3s (actually eight). We didn't play well, we didn't play with great desire and we got our heads handed to us for the second game in a row.
I was concerned a little bit. We know the NBA when you have a big win on national television. I've seen a half-dozen teams this year have those kinds of wins and the next day get beat by anybody. You just sort of let down. It's natural. We really tried to guard against that.
He did things that I haven't seen in a couple of years.
He was absolutely great. He did things I haven't seen him do for a couple of years. He's got a lot of energy and he's taking two or three people to the rim. He's picking people apart.
I haven't seen players do that in a long, long time.
I have seen a lot of good first quarters. I don't think I have ever seen one exactly like that. We didn't play well.
We just had a hard time guarding the ball on the dribble.
We weren't sharp. They came out with more energy and their offense was much more crisp.