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 spoken to James about it. He understands. He just wants to win and he'll do whatever it takes.
I was very pleased with that win in one of the toughest places to play. They (the Jazz) are on a roll, we're coming in back-to-back, the altitude, with all those things. ... The guys dug it out, everybody contributed and it was a good win.
I think probably a month ago or two months ago we wouldn't even come close to winning a game like this. We were very frustrated in the beginning with some very good defensive tactics on their part. They were just committed to fouling Shaquille (O'Neal) every single time.
We feel his decision to come back is going to be critical toward our success and goal of winning an NBA championship. We have the utmost respect for Alonzo and he deserves to be part of this championship run.
We were very fortunate to win. I think we understand that. But you have to win some games like this.
Obviously I'm very happy with the win and the fact that we had 26 assists and a lot of guys involved. Tonight we did a lot better at cutting and spotting quickly. We just made a lot better decisions.
We had to buckle down, and I thought in the second half, especially in winning time that period in the fourth quarter when we had to make stops, we made some tough spots.
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.
We have been able to secure one of the most dominant men to ever play the game of basketball as a member of the Heat, ... At the same time, we have gained the flexibility to achieve our ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship.
That's our objective, to win one more game. Then we will change our routine.
It's in our hands. I'm not looking at numbers. I'm not looking at who they're playing. It's in our hands. And so we have to win games. They might win out. So we have to just stay one step ahead of the posse.
It's just good to get this win and get ready for Indiana and the next six or seven games that are coming our way.
They are one of, if not the best, effort teams in the league. We were very fortunate to win the game. We had to play that kind of game, defense-oriented and tough.
We were a minute and a half away from the Finals -- big deal, ... It's about winning a championship.