alamo50
12-14-2005, 06:18 PM
By Chris Perkins
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
CHICAGO — Center Shaquille O'Neal, whose trade to the Heat was engineered by Pat Riley, said Tuesday he had nothing to do with the club president's decision to move back to the bench.
Riley on Monday replaced Stan Van Gundy, who said he resigned to spend more time with his family.
"It wasn't my decision," O'Neal said after the club's shoot-around Tuesday in Chicago, where the Heat played the Bulls. "This was made between coach Van Gundy and coach Riley...
"Coach Riley's not that type of person where I can go into the office and say, 'Why don't you do this, why don't you do that?' said O'Neal, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers in July 2004.
"He told me that when I first came here, that that's not how this organization is run," O'Neal said. "I knew and understood that. I would never do that anyway."
Heat players said they thought they were gathering in the locker room at 9:30 a.m. Monday for a routine meeting before their flight to Chicago. No one suspected that Van Gundy was resigning.
"When we saw him come in we thought we were going to go through our basic talk and meeting and do our film," guard Gary Payton said. "But then he announced that, and there was a little shock and it was quiet."
Center Alonzo Mourning, while sad to see Van Gundy leave, said he is thrilled that Riley, his former mentor, is taking over.
"Yeah, it's a good feeling," said Mourning, who was coached by Riley for seven seasons during the center's first stint with the team. "I'm not going to sit here and say, 'Hey, it's a bad feeling.'
"If it was a coach coming in here that I wasn't familiar with at all and didn't understand his system then, yeah, I would be a little skeptical about everything. But this is a guy that knows this system, he built this team, he taught Van Gundy basically all he knows for the most part and this is a guy that's a proven winner. So with the experience we have on this team, I think having his leadership as a coach is going to be beneficial."
Guard Dwyane Wade was a rookie when Riley abruptly resigned Oct. 24, 2003. Riley selected Wade No. 5 in the draft that year and handed him over to Van Gundy. Now things have come full circle for Wade.
"I was coached by a great young coach in coach Stan Van Gundy," Wade said. "But I'm also looking forward to being coached by the legend that drafted me in 2003, that I thought I was going to be coached by first."
Still, players expressed empathy for Van Gundy.
"Yeah, it's a big shock," forward Antoine Walker said. "We didn't think he was going to step down. We had no idea he was having personal problems.
"But we all have kids and family and we all can speculate and say different things, but we don't know what could be going on in somebody's family. I can understand that."
Link (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/heat/content/sports/epaper/2005/12/14/w5c_heatnotes_1214.html)
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
CHICAGO — Center Shaquille O'Neal, whose trade to the Heat was engineered by Pat Riley, said Tuesday he had nothing to do with the club president's decision to move back to the bench.
Riley on Monday replaced Stan Van Gundy, who said he resigned to spend more time with his family.
"It wasn't my decision," O'Neal said after the club's shoot-around Tuesday in Chicago, where the Heat played the Bulls. "This was made between coach Van Gundy and coach Riley...
"Coach Riley's not that type of person where I can go into the office and say, 'Why don't you do this, why don't you do that?' said O'Neal, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers in July 2004.
"He told me that when I first came here, that that's not how this organization is run," O'Neal said. "I knew and understood that. I would never do that anyway."
Heat players said they thought they were gathering in the locker room at 9:30 a.m. Monday for a routine meeting before their flight to Chicago. No one suspected that Van Gundy was resigning.
"When we saw him come in we thought we were going to go through our basic talk and meeting and do our film," guard Gary Payton said. "But then he announced that, and there was a little shock and it was quiet."
Center Alonzo Mourning, while sad to see Van Gundy leave, said he is thrilled that Riley, his former mentor, is taking over.
"Yeah, it's a good feeling," said Mourning, who was coached by Riley for seven seasons during the center's first stint with the team. "I'm not going to sit here and say, 'Hey, it's a bad feeling.'
"If it was a coach coming in here that I wasn't familiar with at all and didn't understand his system then, yeah, I would be a little skeptical about everything. But this is a guy that knows this system, he built this team, he taught Van Gundy basically all he knows for the most part and this is a guy that's a proven winner. So with the experience we have on this team, I think having his leadership as a coach is going to be beneficial."
Guard Dwyane Wade was a rookie when Riley abruptly resigned Oct. 24, 2003. Riley selected Wade No. 5 in the draft that year and handed him over to Van Gundy. Now things have come full circle for Wade.
"I was coached by a great young coach in coach Stan Van Gundy," Wade said. "But I'm also looking forward to being coached by the legend that drafted me in 2003, that I thought I was going to be coached by first."
Still, players expressed empathy for Van Gundy.
"Yeah, it's a big shock," forward Antoine Walker said. "We didn't think he was going to step down. We had no idea he was having personal problems.
"But we all have kids and family and we all can speculate and say different things, but we don't know what could be going on in somebody's family. I can understand that."
Link (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/heat/content/sports/epaper/2005/12/14/w5c_heatnotes_1214.html)