West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Sports & Entertainment => Topic started by: Now_Im_Not_Banned on August 13, 2007, 02:30:39 PM
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Pat Riley: I'll coach three more seasons (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/basketball/heat/sfl-riley081207,0,1906536.story)
By Ira Winderman | Sun-Sentinel.com
3:17 PM EDT, August 13, 2007
Pat Riley said Monday he will return as Heat coach next season -- and the following two seasons, as well.
"I've decided that I'm going to coach another three years, the terms of my contract, and that's why it's taken so long for me to make this decision," he said. "I don't want to be a one-and-done guy every year. I have three years left on my contract and I will coach those out . . . unless somebody else makes a decision on me.
"I'm going to keep moving forward with it."
Pat Riley speaks (finally)... we listen
Riley, who had left his status open-ended since his team was swept out of the first round of the playoffs in April, had been weighing the possibility of moving back to a full-time position solely as team president.
Asked about his future in the immediate wake of his team's postseason ineptitude against the Bulls, Riley only would say at the time, "We've got a lot of time."
Then, asked in May, after reports indicated he had already decided to return, Riley feigned a yawn, as if the topic was not worthy of being immediately addressed, and said, "I'm just getting ready for the draft and free agency."
In June, he only would offer, "I'm just continuing to build this team, but I don't want to make that decision right now. I've been here 12 years, whether I'm coaching or making decisions, I'm just going to build this team."
Until Monday, the only certainty Riley had offered was he would fulfill his front-office contract with the team, which runs through 2010. Now he will remain in a dual role.
While Riley guided the Heat to a 44-38 finish and Southeast Division championship last season, he left the team for 22 games at midseason to undergo hip and knee surgeries. The Heat went 13-9 under interim coach Ron Rothstein during that hiatus, moving back into the playoff picture after a 13-17 start under Riley.
It was the second time Riley had abruptly left the Heat bench, having handed the reins to assistant coach Stan Van Gundy four days before the start of the 2003-04 season, citing a need for a break from the game.
Riley then returned early in the 2005-06 season, guiding the franchise to its lone NBA championship.
Riley, 62, has a 439-328 record in his 10 seasons as Heat coach, and a 1,195-627 overall record in 23 seasons as coach of the Lakers, Knicks and Heat.
Last month, center Alonzo Mourning said one of the factors in his decision to return for a final season in 2007-08 was his hope that Riley would return, as well.
"I think he's got an incredible basketball mind and he wants to continue to share it with the world and with this team and I don't see him retiring now," Mourning said after his annual charity weekend. "We started together and hopefully we can end it together."
Seven NBA coaching vacancies have been filled this offseason as Riley deliberated his 2007-08 status.
Riley, however, had repeatedly said the timing of his decision would not impact the team's ability to select a successor, stating a preference to eventually promote a member of his staff to the lead position.
In June, Riley declined a request by Van Gundy, now Magic coach, to interview members of the Heat coaching staff for possible work with the Orlando staff. Assistant coach Erik Spoelstra is widely believed to be Riley's in-house choice as his eventual successor.
Riley has not coached the Heat for a complete, 82-game season since going 25-57 in 2002-03.
For what? No more championships in Miami for AT LEAST another 10 years...
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Yeah like I said in the other thread, I don't understand wtf they're doing over there. If Pat Riley is smart he'll start building that team around Wade for the future and give up in this win now plan.
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^^^^ they need some young fellas out there .. outside Haslem, Wade and Wright , pretty much all players are washed up ... Miami Heat or when the concept of getting experienced players has gone WAY too far ...
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^^^^ they need some young fellas out there .. outside Haslem, Wade and Wright , pretty much all players are washed up ... Miami Heat or when the concept of getting experienced players has gone WAY too far ...
it's like i said they're the new oakland raiders.
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this is a good thing. riley already won a title with wade and im sure he will win some more in the next three years.
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Eh, he ain't winning shit anytime soon, so what's the point?
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The Heat are worse off then my Pacers
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The Heat are worse off then my Pacers
not really. the heat will probably make the playoffs.. i don't see the pacers really doing that unless they trade jermain o'neal to the lakers for bynum, brown, Crittenton, and some change. :-*
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^^Pacers arent trading JO!! He said he wants to stay. Jermaine sorrounded by Tinsley, Marquis Daniels, Granger, Foster, Murphy, Dunleavy, K. Rush, Shawne Williams is just as good as the Miami Heat.
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i wouldn't say that. the heat have experience and leadership. the pacers might be younger but the heat have people who know how to win. they also have two players who can score at will.
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i wouldn't say that. the heat have experience and leadership. the pacers might be younger but the heat have people who know how to win. they also have two players who can score at will.
Id say both teams have alot of work to do. but imo current Pacers>>Miami Heat
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Don't diss Jake's Heat...:nawty:
on the real, though, Indiana and Miami are currently on the same caliber...
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Don't diss Jake's Heat...:nawty:
nut hugger
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...says the guy who opens threads about other men in the sports section.
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^ lol says the guy who opens threads about other men in the sports section
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=149298.0 (http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=149298.0)
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^ lol says the guy who opens threads about other men in the sports section
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=149298.0 (http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=149298.0)
That thread is about Kobe being a leader, smart guy...
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...and a call out to me as well.
take your hypocrite pin and stf
(http://steelturman.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/hypocrite.JPG)
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I thought you weren't Jakob? :-X
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right name, right person....wrong spelling
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Riley not finished yet
Heat president Pat Riley said he will coach three more seasons, the duration of Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade's contracts, and still has plans to reshape the current roster. (http://www.miamiherald.com/592/story/202441.html)
Posted on Tue, Aug. 14, 2007Digg it del.icio.us reprint or license print email
BY BARRY JACKSON
bjackson@MiamiHerald.com
Heat president Pat Riley said Monday he will coach the team three more seasons, and insisted he's ''not done'' reshaping the team's roster this summer.
''This is what I love doing,'' he said, adding it was a difficult decision to continue coaching and one that ``I put a lot of thought into.''
Riley, 62, said he spoke with owner Micky Arison and decided, ``I don't want to be a one-and-done guy every year. I have three years left on my contract, and I will try to coach those out unless somebody else makes a decision on me. That's a commitment I want to make to the organization. . . .
``After the two rebuilding years, I was absolutely burnt. Three or four years ago, I was looking to get out of it totally. I don't feel that way anymore. When I was going through those two years of losing, I just wanted to go to Mt. Everest. I didn't have any joy. That's changed.''
Riley, who said he has no health problems, said it's ''purely coincidental'' that Shaquille O'Neal's contract also runs three more years and that Dwyane Wade can opt out of his contract at that point, too.
Riley addressed several other issues:
• Riley -- whose biggest offseason moves were adding Smush Parker and Penny Hardaway -- indicated he continues to pursue trades.
''We have $14-$20 million in one-year contracts if I wanted to add them all up and do something,'' he said. (That would include Jason Williams at $8.9 million and Michael Doleac at $3.13 million, plus several other smaller contracts.)
''There are a lot of discussions going on, and it's not just about free agents,'' he said. ``We're not finished by any stretch of the imagination. . .
``I understand the prognosticators who are saying we are taking a step back while everybody else is taking a step forward. We feel like we're right in the game and looking real hard at doing some things that are going to help this team. You know me. We're not going to stop. We'll find somebody. We're still a very, very good team. I'm happy to go to training camp with what I have.''
• Asked if Williams will enter camp as the starting point guard, Riley said the position is a ''wide-open'' competition between Williams and Smush Parker.
Williams has missed 44 games during the past two seasons. ''We need a guy . . . that's out there 70 games a year at least,'' Riley said. ``Jason has worked extremely hard. We send therapists to see him [in Orlando] every two weeks. He's in great health, he says right now. We need stability night in and night out.
``If Jason is healthy enough to compete every day in practice and compete every game, it will be a great battle. . . . Smush Parker can make the three. He has size.''
• Riley said he would be ''happy'' starting Antoine Walker on opening night if a small forward isn't netted via trade, pointing out he was the Heat's starter at that position during its championship run. But he said Walker ''definitely is going to have to have a better year than last year.'' Riley said there's a chance Dorell Wright could start at small forward, noting he has grown to 6-10 ½ and might be ready for a ``break-out year.''
He said the team ''likes'' restricted free agent Mickael Pietrus ''because of his defensive abilities. The only way it's going to happen is with a sign-and-trade. We've talked a lot about the possibilities with him.'' But discussions between the Heat and Golden State haven't produced a deal, and Pietrus is exploring another undisclosed option, his agent said.
• Riley didn't sound optimistic about re-signing James Posey: ''We're in conversations, but the reality is the reality. . . . We don't want to be a big-tax team.'' (The Heat is about $1 million above the $68 million tax threshold.)
• Riley didn't save the Heat's entire $5.3 million midlevel exception for a small forward, such as Pietrus, because point guard ''was a greater need.'' Parker got $2.2 million of the exception.
• Though Boston (Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen), New York (Zach Randolph) and Orlando (Rashard Lewis) made major acquisitions, Riley pointed out ''a couple'' of those teams also lost ''a tremendous amount of assets to get them'' and mentioned the Magic, which lost Grant Hill and Darko Milicic.
Asserting his team is ''right up there with the rest'' of the quality teams in the East, Riley said he doesn't think Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland have improved. ''They got a year older,'' he said. ``Our best player was 50 percent at the end of the year. We weren't a very good team last year. It doesn't mean we can't be what we were the year [before]. Don't let last year's exit change your thinking.''
Of the Heat's relatively quiet offseason, Riley said, ''It's not for lack of trying'' and also said the team probably waited too long for a response from point guard Mo Williams, who re-signed with Milwaukee.
• Riley said he extended to Eddie Jones the same $1.8 million offer that Jones accepted from Dallas. ''I told Eddie I wanted him back at our exit meeting,'' Riley said. ``For some reason, he moved on.''
• Riley expects a mid-November return from Wade, who had knee and shoulder surgery.
• Of Hardaway's signing, Riley said, ``Penny will bring us what Eddie [did]. He's in great shape, a playmaker. He can really help a team. He's been great with [rookies] Jeremy Richardson and Daequan Cook.''
• Riley said he wants to speak with Gary Payton, who is not expected back, before commenting about him.
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got damn Dorrell Wright grew 2 and a half inches :o
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Miami Losing Out On Pietrus?
Although the Heat has talked with Golden State about swingman Mickael Pietrus, a restricted free agent, Miami coach Pat Riley didn't seem optimistic about an agreement being imminent.
"The only way it's going to happen is with a sign-and-trade," Riley said, adding that the teams have "talked about a lot of possibilities."
Riley Not Optimistic Regarding Posey
During a press conference to announce his new contract, Heat coach Pat Riley didn't sound optimistic about re-signing forward James Posey: "We're in conversations, but the reality is the reality... We don't want to be a big-tax team."
Miami is about $1 million above the $68 million tax threshold.
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got damn Dorrell Wright grew 2 and a half inches :o
That dude went to my high school.
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Miami Losing Out On Pietrus?
Although the Heat has talked with Golden State about swingman Mickael Pietrus, a restricted free agent, Miami coach Pat Riley didn't seem optimistic about an agreement being imminent.
"The only way it's going to happen is with a sign-and-trade," Riley said, adding that the teams have "talked about a lot of possibilities."
Riley Not Optimistic Regarding Posey
During a press conference to announce his new contract, Heat coach Pat Riley didn't sound optimistic about re-signing forward James Posey: "We're in conversations, but the reality is the reality... We don't want to be a big-tax team."
Miami is about $1 million above the $68 million tax threshold.
Great updates, genius...Both of those stories were in my previous post in this thread.
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got damn Dorrell Wright grew 2 and a half inches :o
That dude went to my high school.
You ever play with him?
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got damn Dorrell Wright grew 2 and a half inches :o
That dude went to my high school.
You ever play with him?
Nah, never played with him. I talked to him a couple times, we were in the same computer class. I only went to that school my freshman year.