It was reported this morning that Pat Riley will step down as head coach of the Miami Heat, following his absolute worst season as a head coach. The Heat had a nightmarishly bad season, winning an astonishing 15 games (the record for an 82 game season is 9 wins from the 72-73 Sixers), with all of their starters playing bench warmer roles for the second half of the season.
If you've been paying attention, Pat Riley hasn't exactly been the paradigm of humility throughout this process--not just this season, but the past few years. First of all, one can't forget his abandoning the Knicks in 1995 to join the Heat, and the controversy that surrounded the matter (the Heat were accused of negotiating with Riley while he was still under contract).
The real disgrace, however, has come since 2005. Having stepped down as head coach for two years, Riley saw his team improve dramatically under head coach Stan Van Gundy and star guard Dwyane Wade. Riley stepped down as coach in 2003, at a low point in the team's standing. Now, in December 2005, when suddenly the team was looking promising, he fired the fatter Van Gundy brother and resumed control over the reigns. The team went on to win the championship that year, and everyone was convinced that Riley assassinated Van Gundy or something, because he basically fell off the face of the earth. It wasn't until he re-emerged with the Orlando Magic that everyone realized he wasn't, in fact, dead.
In the off season in 2006, when the team's future was looking shaky, Riley swore he would stay dedicated to his position. Halfway through the next season, he took a leave of absence, letting his assistants lead the team into the playoffs. Lo and behold, when they made the playoffs, he returned (only to be swept by the Bulls).
This past season was, to simplify it, awful. And Riley, true to his fair weather nature, was flaky, vaguely hinting that he wanted to leave and overall throwing his team under the bus. He even left the team for a few weeks during March Madness to do scouting. What the hell kind of head coach scouts during the regular season? His only sign of caring this year was bringing in Shawn Marion, but otherwise, he entirely gave up.
Don't get me wrong; Pat Riley is a Hall of Famer. He had a successful career as a player and led many good teams. But the problem with Pat is that as soon as his team goes to shit, he stops giving one. One can only wonder how many years will pass until Erik Spoelstra makes the team respectable, only to be promptly replaced by the fair weather Riley himself.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Pat Riley is the Ultimate Fair Weather Fan
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
Riley's a jerk, no way around it, but I can't really blame him for scouting during the season. Sure, he's the head coach, but let's face it, the season was over before March. In some ways it shows a greater commitment to the franchise that he went out of his way to travel and scout college players for a team that he must have known he wouldn't be coaching next year.
Meanwhile, the Heat could actually get good in 2-3 years. They'll have at worst the #4 pick this year (probably higher), they still have Wade, and they'll either bring back Marion or have a ton of cap room. Plus Daequan Cook is going to develop into a decent player, maybe a good one. Riley's inevitable comeback might not be that far off.
What I want to know is what you think is worse: Riley or Larry Brown? Riley has changed teams, but he's been with only a few and he's been in Miami for a while now. Sure he's jumped from the front office to the bench and back a few times, but at least he's been loyal to the Heat. Brown, on the other hand, travels from team to team non-stop. His stay with the Sixers (6 years, I believe) was his longest anywhere. Who would you rather have?
Also, Stan Van Gundy isn't fat. He's just big-boned.
I just can't get past the insult to all his current personnel; he thinks they're so bad that it's not even worth being with the team and guiding them / developing them. Instead, he's trying to find fresh blood.
Brown is another story altogether. It will be very interesting to see what happens if he ends up in Charlotte. For some reason, I actually get the feeling that he'd be there for a while... but who knows.
Yeah but if you think about it, what's the difference between sitting your star players (ok, player) and having the "star" coach taking off. Riley's not a teacher at this point. He's not there to hold the hands of D-League players. He's there to win, and to his credit he got them a title.
As for Brown, I'm convinced he's going to Charlotte. There are a few more young players than perhaps he'd like (count on Othella Harrington to play more minutes than he should), but it's as close as he's getting to UNC, his alma mater. I think he definitely bites.
Post a Comment