Riley expected to take over as Heat coach today

I know, it's not Spurs related, so move it if you want :

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...home-headlines

Riley expected to take over as Heat coach today

By Ira Winderman
sun-sentinel.com
Posted December 12 2005, 8:24 AM EST

MIAMI -- Two years after stepping down as Heat coach, team president Pat Riley is on the verge of resuming the position.

The Heat has called an 11 a.m. Monday media conference at AmericanAirlines Arena, where Riley is expected to take over for Stan Van Gundy, who has led the Heat deep into the playoffs in his two seasons with the franchise.

Meanwhile, a team source said Coach Gundy has resigned, the Associated Press reported around 9 a.m.

The Heat is 11-10 and in first place in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team on Sunday regained the services of Shaquille O'Neal, after the All-Star center missed the previous 18 games with a sprained right ankle.

Preliminary word was Van Gundy was stepping down due to personal reasons.

Riley had stated in the offseason he would take a more active involvement in the team, but also vehemently denied that would include a return as coach.

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Preliminary word was Van Gundy was stepping down due to personal reasons.

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Just like Rudy T did, right?

We all saw this coming ... the first firing of the season, wonder who Barkley's pick for first fired coach was?

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Preliminary word was Van Gundy was stepping down due to personal reasons.

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I hear he has some medical issues stemming from the knife in his back.

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Originally Posted by Extra Stout

I hear he has some medical issues stemming from the knife in his back.

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DEEP and Profound.... the wound that is.... :lol :lol

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Originally Posted by Extra Stout

I hear he has some medical issues stemming from the knife in his back.

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True.

Check your own predictions!

http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthre...ht=coach+fired


:depressed

I knew they signed Walker and Williams for a reason. What a thinly veiled setup. No one can make that lineup work. Wonder how long before Riley trades their asses.

gee...what a surprise...:lol

That's clearly not fair considering the big donut hasn't played much, still I thought D Wade could lead his team to a better record. I guess I was wrong.

Rumor has it that Shaq also had a role in this, having not been happy with Van Gundy since last year's ECF exit because he didn't feel the offense was run through him enough.

If that turns out to be true, I wonder if he'll be spared any of the criticism Kobe was given for influencing the Lakers to let Phil Jackson go.

Wow...I'm so surprised :rolleyes

Stan the Man knew he would not last this year as the coach.

Shaq has always appointed himself as the GM for the teams he played on. When he was here he got rid of EJ, Nick and Elden because they were soft in his eyes. He also got Malone and Payton. I'm sure he was behind this move and he would tell you straight up. Criticism, no that's only for Kobe, everyone else gets a free ride.

Dirty.

Umm yeah I think this is another fake thread umkay great.

Heard he was wanting to make a comback in the adult film industry

http://www.snups.com/images/jeremy.jpg
http://www.terra.com.mx/galeria_de_f...108/215467.jpg

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Originally Posted by Peter

Dirty.

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Umm yeah I gonna need you to go ahead and come in today great.

I notice he waited for Shaq to come back...

Man, this is shades of the Bob Hill firing. The team's superstar is injured, the GM steps in on the eve of his return, relieving a coach that got the team to the conference finals.

I just hope that the change in coaching doesn't spell the same kind of turnaround for the Heat.

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Originally Posted by Extra Stout

I hear he has some medical issues stemming from the knife in his back.

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:lmao Very true.

I actually feel bad for SVG. He's a great coach and has really carried the Heat far past 2 seasons. It's not his fault players don't live up to their expectations.

I don't expect a huge turnaround by the Heat due to Riley's coaching...more so due to Shaq returning to the lineup. They still aren't going to get past Detroit. Wonder what Riley will do then?

:tu I bet the Van Gundy replaces whatever coach gets fired next in the NBA. I'm sure many teams would look to pick him up as their head coach.

Riley is a practice freak. Back in the day he was known for putting on the hardest practices in the league...It will be interesting to see how Shaq and Payton take that if Riley reverts to form...

I now have my favorite team to hate by far as I cannot stand Riley on the sidelines.

This should be good for the rest of the East. I don't see Riley doing a better job than VanGundy did. The Heat and the Pacers are shooting themselves in the foot. Detroit should walk through the East this year.

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Originally Posted by BishopRyan

The stupid thing is why would he cite needing time with his family.

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It's la raison du jour...or la raison de l'année...or la raison de la décennie. Everybody's using it, even the politicos and the CEOs getting fired. It's populaire.

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Originally Posted by pache100

It's la raison du jour...or la raison de l'année...or la raison de la décennie. Everybody's using it, even the politicos and the CEOs getting fired. It's populaire.

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I don't know what this French boy just said, but it sounds pretty cool.

The French language rocks. I think he could have said that he just soiled himself and it would probably sound cool.

Awesome, Panache100!

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think he could have said that he just soiled himself and it would probably sound cool

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LOL

Chopper always has a good comeback.

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Originally Posted by Ed Helicopter Jones

I don't know what this French boy just said, but it sounds pretty cool.

The French language rocks. I think he could have said that he just soiled himself and it would probably sound cool.

Awesome, Panache100!

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Oh, thanks, Ed...but, alas, I am not a "French boy". :lol :lol :lol

(That was really funny! You made my day!)

I am an old American woman from the great state of Georgia who's been livin' in Texas since 1974 (I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as quick as I could).

What I said was...using the "want to spend more time with my family" is the reason of the hour...or the reason of the year...or the reason of the decade...it's the popular reason people use to pretend they are quitting when they are really getting fired. Nothin' fancy.

I do love this, though: Panache100! Thanks! :elephant

Danny Ainge resigned from Phoenix due to "Time with family"

So did Frank Johnson.


riiiiiggghhhtttt.......



Crappy move by Riles the calculator.

Not suprising, hes always been slimy.

This redefines sleazy.

Notice how Riley waited until Shaq came back.

Hey Riley.. got any greese in that hair man?

Or is that like the gel?

http://img334.imageshack.us/img334/7...tbroken4bg.gif

Poor Ron Jeremy. He's heartbroken.

This is what Shaq wanted...to play for Pat Riley.

In the merry-go-round/musical chairs of NBA coaching, Stan will displace another coach, probably before the ASB, no?

I hope the Heat now are swept in the first round or don't even make the playoff's. What Riley did makes me want the Heat to have lottery year and make the guy pay.

Just once i would like to hear someone come out and tell it like it is. Not the whole it was my choice to resign i need time with the family. How about Riley says " I am a selfish bastard and an egomaniac i see a chance to win and i am throwing this guy under the bus to do it".

I think Van Gundy is a good coach and is not really being given a chance.

However, if Shaq prefers Riley, I don't think its a bad idea to give him what he wants.

How different is this from Pop's takeover, really?

If Heat buy out Stan's contract, which team could use Stan?

Seattle?

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Originally Posted by spursfaninla

I think Van Gundy is a good coach and is not really being given a chance.

However, if Shaq prefers Riley, I don't think its a bad idea to give him what he wants.

How different is this from Pop's takeover, really?

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You make a good point. Pop did something similar without the benefit of having a few championship rings, or the star of the team wishing him to be the coach.

The only big difference is that if the Heat are healthy they have a good chance at being in the finals last year, maybe winning it. Bob Hill's big run in the playoffs ended with the Rodman clearly being out of control and the Rockets handing the Spurs their heads.

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Originally Posted by boutons

In the merry-go-round/musical chairs of NBA coaching, Stan will displace another coach, probably before the ASB, no?

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Rockets fire Jeff, hire Stan? :lol

I think he is going to kings
rick is going to get canned soon

That would be interesting. Petrie fires Adelman and pulls the trigger on the Peja/Artest deal. Ron and Ron start on the same day!

The New York Times
December 12, 2005

Pat Riley to Return to N.B.A. Coaching
By LIZ ROBBINS

In a sudden but not entirely unexpected move, Pat Riley came down from the front office today to return as the Miami Heat's head coach, replacing Stan Van Gundy, who resigned 21 games into a disappointing season because he said he wanted to spend more time with his family.

The announcement - made in a 45-minute news conference this morning in Miami where Van Gundy and Riley sat side by side - was a switch of positions that has come full circle; Riley stepped down as head coach to be the team president right before the 2003-2004 season and gave the job to Van Gundy, who had guided the Heat to a 112-73 record in his two-plus seasons.

Riley had said this past summer that he wanted to take more active participation in the team, sparking speculation he would replace Van Gundy; later Riley denied he wanted to do so.

But the team, which Riley restocked with new and controversial players over the summer, suffered when Shaquille O'Neal sprained his ankle in the second game of the season, and the Heat to a 11-10 record.

O'Neal returned to the lineup to help spark an overtime victory over Washington on Sunday. Still, Riley said "the team's a mess," at today's news conference, broadcast live on Miami radio, WIOD. And with that, Riley, who won four championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, wasted little time asserting his authority, however reluctantly he said he reassumed it.

"With Shaq not being there for 18 games, various maladies, guys changing roles, I don't want to make any excuses," Riley said. "Injuries are part of the game. But, saying that, I do believe that this team is gong to have to make a decision whether they want to be part of greatness. This isn't about winning a championship. That's just a symbol. Players who care want to be part of great teams."

Van Gundy said he came to a conclusion six weeks in the making - that the pain of being away from his four children and his wife, Kim, was too much to take.

"It's the best job in the world, professionally, but it comes with a price, personally," Van Gundy said. "It got to the point to be literally painful. I'm not willing to do that anymore."

He added that the "timing stinks" but "I don't think anyone up here thinks I'm getting forced out. If so, I would have gotten every dollar on my contract and walked out the door. Anybody speculating otherwise has to do so in total disregard to the facts."

After taking three weeks off, Van Gundy will stay in an advisory role, working with player personnel.

"I can't believe that people have that big a problem believing that someone would actually want to spend time with their family," he said. "I don't know why that's so hard to buy into."

The skepticism is fueled by the understanding that in Riley, the Heat will have a coach who has more pedigree, more championships and more respect from the team's superstar.

Van Gundy took the Heat as far as the Eastern Conference finals last season with an ailing Dwyane Wade and O'Neal. The Heat lost to the Detroit Pistons in the final two minutes of Game 7. Still, leading up to that point, O'Neal had questioned some of Van Gundy's playcalling, wondering why he did not get the ball more at crucial times of the games.

Riley wasted little time in putting his stamp on this team last summer, giving Van Gundy the difficult task of blending stars who all wanted the ball in their hands. He traded guard Eddie Jones to Memphis for point guard Jason Williams and forward James Posey. He added Antoine Walker and Gary Payton.

Training camp was, as a result, a rocky experience, with Van Gundy losing his voice while trying to teach all of his voluminous playbook at once. O'Neal took the position that Van Gundy should relax and recognize that it was only preseason.

When O'Neal got injured, Van Gundy seemed to have a ready excuse for the team's struggles. But Van Gundy said he was already thinking of resigning.

He spoke to Riley after the first game of the season about wanting to spend more time with his children - Shannon, 14, Michael, 11, Alison, 9, Kelly, 6.

He then handed the team's owner, Micky Arison, a confidential letter on Nov. 18. Arison said at the news conference he wanted to make a change as soon as possible.

Riley insisted that he tried to talk Van Gundy out of resigning and that it not been his intention to coach.

"That wasn't my motivation at all," he said. "For six weeks, I tried to convince him to stay on, period. I don't like change, I don't like a lack of continuity. I think he was the best man for the job. During the season I don't like this kind of change."

Riley, 60, who made the sidelines safe for Armani, established himself in Los Angeles with the four-time champion "Showtime" Lakers of Magic Johnson; coached the Knicks in their glamour years; and then moved south to coach the Miami Heat for eight seasons, compiling a 354-270 record. Overall, his career record is 1,110-569.

"I haven't looked at a playbook in two years," Riley said. "I think I know my way around a 94-50 court, I know what I'm doing when I'm out there, but right now I'm a little bit lost."

Just last year, Riley insisted he did not want to return to the grind of an N.B.A. season, with the travel and the stress. But this past summer he started to feel restless and wanted to be more involved in the team he was assembled.

Riley traveled with the Heat to California last week to try, he said, to convince Van Gundy to stay; but Riley also visited his doctor about postponing hip surgery.

"I have an obligation to this franchise and to Micky," Riley said. "I'm going to put off my hip replacement surgery. I have a responsibility to this team, to the players I traded for and signed. Right now, at this moment, I'm the best person to do that. As far as the other things that go into the game, I can handle that."

* Copyright 2005The New York Times Company

ESPN.com
Dec 12, 2005
Link: ESPN
Heat coach Van Gundy resigns; Riley returns

MIAMI -- Pat Riley and Stan Van Gundy walked off the dais together Monday, then went in opposite directions.

Riley packed his tailored suits and headed back to the NBA sidelines, looking to add another entry to his long and glowing coaching resume. Van Gundy simply went home.

Months after he said he wanted to reclaim more of a hands-on role with the team -- a comment that prompted rampant speculation he was about to fire his former protege -- Riley returned to the business of coaching. Van Gundy quit to spend more time with his family, and will stay with the team in a limited capacity.

"I was happy for him when I hired him 11 years ago," Riley said. "I was happy for him when I stepped aside and gave him an opportunity that was well-deserved. And I am happy for him today, absolutely."

The 60-year-old Riley said he hasn't looked at a playbook in two years. He's probably doing that right now for Tuesday night's game in Chicago.

"I think I know my way around a 94-by-50 court," Riley said. "I know what the hell I'm doing when I'm out there. But right now, I'm a little bit lost. So I'm going to depend a lot on the staff that we have presently. But no, I really wasn't thinking about replacements."

Riley said he spent the last six weeks trying to persuade Van Gundy to stay, and his former top assistant insisted his decision was voluntary. Players, who were not available for comment because they were traveling, were told Monday morning.

Van Gundy's job security has been scrutinized since the Heat lost Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals to Detroit at home last June -- a game where Miami's superstars, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade, were both injured.

The Heat entered the season with big ambitions, but they are just 11-10, although Miami has been hit by injuries, including a sprained ankle that sidelined O'Neal for all but three of those games.

"If I'm getting forced out, I would have gotten absolutely every dollar on my contract and walked out the door," Van Gundy said. "That's not what happened here. ... Anybody who's speculating otherwise has to do so in total disregard of the facts of the situation."

Riley came to the Heat in 1995 after winning four titles with the "Showtime" Los Angeles Lakers of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, followed by a stint with the Knicks. He has won 1,110 games in 21 seasons, the third-highest victory total in NBA history.

Van Gundy has always professed to being a family-first man, someone who abhors road trips and the idea of spending holidays away from his wife and four children. He said that because of travel, games and practices, he would have seen his children at home only 49 days out of 170 this season.

"That's just not enough any more for me. It's just not enough," Van Gundy said. "I mean, it's been like that for my kids' entire lives. I've got a 14-year-old daughter and it started to hit me when I started thinking about her birthday, which was last month. I've got four more years left with her. Four. And then she'll be off to college and I'm just not willing to sacrifice any more of those four more years."

Van Gundy said he began wrestling with the balance between job and family during the preseason, and told Riley after the regular-season opener at Memphis that they needed to talk about the future.

"I can't believe people have that big a problem actually believing that someone would actually want to spend time with their family," Van Gundy said. "I don't know why that's so hard for people to buy into."

Riley resigned as Heat coach shortly before the 2003-04 season, walking into Van Gundy's office one morning and asking his top assistant, "You ready?" Van Gundy went 42-40 in his first season, then 59-23 last year when Miami was the No. 1 seed for the East playoffs.

The team underwent a major roster shakeup this offseason, with Riley saying he was building a team to win a title now. Eddie Jones, Damon Jones and Rasual Butler were among those moving on; Riley brought in Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and James Posey, among others, to replace them.

And winning respect of the players won't be a difficult chore for Riley. Most of them call him "Coach" already, and O'Neal commonly refers to him as "the great Pat Riley."

That's why he has no qualms about taking over, even if he truly wanted Van Gundy to stay.

"I have a responsibility to this team and to the players that I traded for, the picks," Riley said. "And I think right now, at this moment, that I'm the best person to do that."

The move came nearly four years to the day after Jeff Van Gundy, Stan's younger brother, resigned as Knicks coach 19 games into the 2001-02 season. Jeff Van Gundy, now the Houston Rockets coach, said at the time he'd lost his focus and thought about quitting since that summer.

"The question I've always had for him is, 'why did you go back,'" Stan Van Gundy said.

He also had the same question for Riley during a recent meeting they had at his Malibu, Calif., home. Riley flew out during a recent Heat road trip, bringing Van Gundy over for a final pitch to keep him as coach.

Instead, the talk only strengthened Van Gundy's belief that leaving was the right idea.

"I regret the timing," Van Gundy said. "I think that for the team, it stinks. The timing of it stinks. And I wish that I could have made the decision in the offseason, but in the offseason, you don't feel like this."

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Wojnarowski on Riley
Adrian Wojnarowski wrote about the potential Heat coaching change in July:
Pat Riley needs to stop framing this as some noble return to his passion, and tell the truth. His ego could never stay in the background and let Stan Van Gundy get the shot at bringing that championship parade to the shores of Biscayne Bay.

Suddenly, coaching the Heat is a glamour job again, and Riley's ego would never let him sit that out. If Riley will want to insist this was a hard choice based purely on the best chance for a championship, or finding the best coach for the job, ancient NBA history backs him. It's just that modern history doesn't. Across the past two seasons, almost no one in the league has coached better than Van Gundy. I'll give you Larry Brown, but no one else.

What the Heat had was the rarest of strong management structures, under which the chain of command set everything in motion for a finely tuned winning machine. If this was truly about winning it all, Riley would've understood that all his Heat needed in the playoffs was to stay healthy, not a new coach.

It looks like Shaq's reshuffling Heat house

Like Kobe did in L.A., O'Neal subtly paved way for coach's departure

COMMENTARY
By Michael Ventre
NBCSports.com contributor
Updated: 4:29 p.m. ET Dec. 12, 2005


Recently Shaquille O’Neal was sworn in as a reserve police officer in Miami Beach. What wasn’t made clear is how exactly will he juggle that job with the one that takes up most of his time — general manager of the Miami Heat.

It seems that what Kobe Bryant is to the Lakers, Shaq has become for the Heat. That is, a decision-maker, a power broker, the man who decides who comes and who goes. As an impending free agent in the summer before last season, Bryant quietly retooled the Lakers to his satisfaction, with disastrous results.

The Heat had better hope Shaq is a better executive than his former Los Angeles teammate.

On Monday it was announced that Stan Van Gundy resigned as head coach of the Heat, citing “family reasons.” Sure, and I’m the NBA’s all-time leader in rebounds.

I’m not accusing Shaq of purposely dogging it by sitting out 18 games with a sprained ankle while his Heat struggled to an 11-10 record, then came back just in time to usher Van Gundy out the door and invite Pat Riley to step down from his presidential perch and take over on the bench. I am saying that a cynic certainly could view it that way.

Remember, this is the same Shaquille O’Neal who, while with the Lakers, once waited all summer to have his injured toe operated on, then did so just before training camp and explained, “I got hurt on company time, so I’ll heal on company time.” So it’s not unprecedented that he would put his interests before that of anyone else’s.

If he didn’t overtly bring this coaching change about by withholding his services and using his ankle as an excuse, at least it can be said that Shaq used similar methods as Kobe to nudge Van Gundy out of the way and bring in Riley — that is, the well-placed gushy compliment of Riley, the subtle roll-of-the-eyes whenever things go awry on the court, the body language of a man frustrated by the team’s direction, and perhaps even some back-room horse-trading between Shaq’s people and owner Mickey Arison’s people.

When an NBA franchise gives a player a five-year, $100 million contract extension, what they also give him in the process is more power. Don’t be surprised when he uses it.

It could also be concluded that Riley himself orchestrated this when he shook up his roster last summer and brought in high-maintenance misfits Antoine Walker, Gary Payton and Jason Williams. He might have calculated that the maelstrom created by the confluence of their attitudes would be so overwhelming for Van Gundy that it would provide the perfect excuse for Riley to dump his coach and take over himself. After all, Riley had won four NBA titles with the Showtime Lakers of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, et al., so outside of Phil Jackson he is basketball’s preeminent ego wrangler.

But there’s nothing wrong with that. As team president, Riley has the authority to do whatever he deems necessary to make the Miami Heat the best team it can be. Sure, it may appear unseemly if Riley has rediscovered a yearning to coach again and has decided that bouncing a loyal lieutenant such as Van Gundy is just collateral damage in that pursuit. But it’s not as if Riley is unqualified. He’s one of the greatest living basketball coaches on the planet. Maybe he feels he can do a better job than Van Gundy.

Also, Van Gundy has enough talent down there that he should have been able to keep the Heat in the midst of the Eastern Conference elite. Instead, a team with Dwyane Wade, Walker, Payton, Williams and Alonzo Mourning is about on par with a Lakers club that features Bryant, Lamar Odom, Smush Parker, Brian Cook and Chris Mihm.

Still, here it is in mid-December and Van Gundy finds himself penalized because his most dominant player missed 18 of the club’s first 21 games. It hardly seems fair to judge him on that.

That’s why you can blame Riley. You can blame the dysfunctional prima donnas on the roster. You can blame Van Gundy. But it appears Shaq is the silent leader of this bloodless coup.

What Shaq did here is make the same mistake Kobe made when the Lakers were dismantled by owner Jerry Buss in order to please him and convince him to re-sign as a free agent. Kobe should have said the following: “Phil, Shaq and myself have something special going here and I’d like to see us keep it together. So if they stay, I’ll stay.”

That would have never happened, of course, because Kobe didn’t want them to stay. He wanted them gone so he could run the franchise. But if he said that publicly, at least he would have covered his butt for the fans and the media while he worked surreptitiously to get what he wanted.

Shaq should have learned from Kobe’s mistake. He should have realized how it would look if Van Gundy was shoved out the door right around the time Shaq returned to action. He should have said the following: “Stan Van Gundy’s our head coach. I have every confidence that he’ll lead us to an NBA championship and I’m looking forward to working with him toward that goal.” Meanwhile, he could have whispered in Riley’s ear what he really wanted.

Van Gundy could have saved his job by doing a better job of coaching. He needs to take responsibility for the team’s sluggish start. Other clubs have to deal with the loss of a key player for an extended period of time.

But this was more than the typical absence of a vital cog. Shaq is the central figure in the future of the Miami Heat, and as such he calls the shots, in public or behind the scenes. Aside from Riley, there aren’t many coaches who can survive on the wrong side of that.

Michael Ventre writes regularly for NBCSports.com and is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.

Link

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Originally Posted by missmyzte

Just like Rudy T did, right?

We all saw this coming ... the first firing of the season, wonder who Barkley's pick for first fired coach was?

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Chuck said it was and Eastern Conference coach...We'll see if he was right

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Originally Posted by Bruno

I know, it's not Spurs related, so move it if you want :

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...home-headlines

Riley expected to take over as Heat coach today

By Ira Winderman
sun-sentinel.com
Posted December 12 2005, 8:24 AM EST

MIAMI -- Two years after stepping down as Heat coach, team president Pat Riley is on the verge of resuming the position.

The Heat has called an 11 a.m. Monday media conference at AmericanAirlines Arena, where Riley is expected to take over for Stan Van Gundy, who has led the Heat deep into the playoffs in his two seasons with the franchise.

Meanwhile, a team source said Coach Gundy has resigned, the Associated Press reported around 9 a.m.

The Heat is 11-10 and in first place in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team on Sunday regained the services of Shaquille O'Neal, after the All-Star center missed the previous 18 games with a sprained right ankle.

Preliminary word was Van Gundy was stepping down due to personal reasons.

Riley had stated in the offseason he would take a more active involvement in the team, but also vehemently denied that would include a return as coach.

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Now who in the world could have predicted this?

Oh that's right. ME! :lol

Solid D, q the backpatter in 3, 2, 1...:tu :lmao

The New York Times
December 13, 2005

Sports of The Times

It's Riley for Sake of Family. The N.B.A. Family.
By HARVEY ARATON

STAN VAN GUNDY quit the Miami Heat yesterday, practically swearing on a stack of Pat Riley autobiographies that he wasn't forced out, that he wanted to be a better family man. Then Riley stood up at the news conference and, sounding so solemn that you almost believed someone was dead, called the team Van Gundy had coached to an 11-10 record this ridiculously young season a mess.

Oh, Riley made sure to cite a few injuries, mostly one that sidelined Shaquille O'Neal for 18 games, but in the next breath he suggested his upgraded roster of career whiners like Gary Payton and Antoine Walker was flunking the coach-killing character test.

"I do believe that this team is going to have to make a decision whether they want to be part of greatness," Riley said. And who better to lead them to it than the legend himself, the best-selling author of the "The Winner Within"?

The return of Riley to the bench from the front office, where he was the team president, was forecast for months, reportedly was lobbied for by O'Neal and is undoubtedly by now the preferred denouement for everyone, including Van Gundy. Self-interest, unfortunately, does not play publicly as well as devotion to fatherhood. Hence, an admirable performance yesterday by Van Gundy, including a profound apology for making Riley, 60, put off hip replacement surgery.

"The timing of this whole thing really stinks," Van Gundy said.

Well, let's think about that. The season's still young, Shaq is back and so is Riley, just in time for the N.B.A. to promote its premier regular-season telecast on Dec. 25: Lakers at Miami, Phil and Kobe against Shaq and Riley.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah , David Stern.

"Pat brings to the sidelines what Larry Brown brings to the sidelines and what Phil Jackson brings to the sidelines," the Knicks' president, Isiah Thomas, said yesterday at his team's practice facility in Greenburgh, N.Y. "Those three have the impact on the game and the arena very few people have."

San Antonio's Gregg Popovich and Flip Saunders, Brown's replacement in Detroit, need not apply to the "very few" club. The Spurs and the Pistons, the best teams in the N.B.A. right now by a lot, will begin the Christmas doubleheader in what amounts to, based on the time-slot allocation, the junior varsity game.

In most professional sports, a rematch of the previous season's league-championship combatants would more than suffice as a headlining act. But these are trying times for Stern, the N.B.A. commissioner and the once envied king of the promotional sports arena, who remains loath to admit the star-making formula isn't working anymore.

Domestic television ratings have tanked. Loyal readers of N.B.A. box scores wince at announced crowds of 12,000 and change in basketball-loving cities like Philadelphia and Portland. Ron Artest continues to be a one-man image-wrecking crew, having finally alienated the same Pacers executives who stubbornly stood by him after last year's debacle in suburban Detroit (bid at your own risk, Isiah).

Don't tell me that Stern wasn't passing out party hats in the league's Fifth Avenue headquarters yesterday when he heard that Armani Riley was returning to the bench to raise the sartorial bar during these times of dress-code crisis. Who would really be shocked to discover that Stern did some Shaq-Fu arm-twisting of his own, asking Riley to make his inevitable return sooner than later for the good of the game?

"Tough league," Brown said after hearing the news that Van Gundy was out. "The guy came within two minutes of maybe going to the finals and winning a championship. And now he's not coaching."

Did Van Gundy earn his stripes when he made the playoffs two seasons ago with Dwyane Wade, when he reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last season against Brown's Pistons with a hobbled Shaq? Did Riley undercut his loyal disciple with the team by refusing to say he would not, under any circumstances, coach again? Is it conceited for him to believe he is the missing piece to a championship team?

The answer to all of the above is yes, but championship success makes for an imperialist mind. Bill Parcells never worried about whom he might displace. Brown all but called Herb Williams the next John Wooden last summer, but in the end took the job that Williams was in line to get.

"I hadn't signed a deal, and Stan already had," Williams, now an assistant to Brown, said yesterday. "Plus, he took a team that was struggling and did a real nice job. I think it's a little different than my case."

Details, details. Riley doesn't have to apologize for wanting to coach again, for believing the Heat has a better chance to win with him. Across the years, no one in the sport has done more for the brothers Van Gundy than Riley has. Like Stan, Jeff Van Gundy was a disciple of Riley, with the Knicks. And when he is ready to coach again, Stan Van Gundy will be well positioned to land another job and a lucrative long-term deal.

It worked out that way for Jeff, who survived a Knicks flirtation with Phil Jackson in 1999, then quit after 19 games in 2001. He said he was tired of the grind, and missed his family. Only he knows what percentage of the truth that was, as opposed to the realization that the Knicks were sinking and the smart career move was to jump off the Titanic when it was still close to shore.

In the end, Stan Van Gundy had to know what O'Neal wanted, and Riley, and probably the owner, Micky Arison, and Stern, too. Under those circumstances, given those career options, who wouldn't decide to go home for a hug?

E-mail: [email protected]


* Copyright 2005The New York Times Company

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You make a good point. Pop did something similar without the benefit of having a few championship rings, or the star of the team wishing him to be the coach.

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Scuttlebut has it that two players, both left handed, one VERY short, and one VERY tall did just that, letting Pop know that Hill had lost the team. Once that happens, management really has no choice. Hill always took credit for the good, but shifted any blame to the players, and they had apparently had it with him.

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Originally Posted by exstatic

Scuttlebut has it that two players, both left handed, one VERY short, and one VERY tall did just that, letting Pop know that Hill had lost the team. Once that happens, management really has no choice. Hill always took credit for the good, but shifted any blame to the players, and they had apparently had it with him.

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So, assuming that Shaq did a similar thing regarding SVG, does that make Shaq and Riley "right", just as Pop and Drob and AJ were "right"? Just asking.

As is always the case, history is written by the winners retrospectively. The Spurs won, so Pop was right. If the Heat win, then Shaq and Riley will be right.

Once Riles starts "cracking the whip", the vets on that team who never played for Riley will rue this day. The Heat have too many pussy-ass players who are set in their ways. Besides they're not going to beat Detroit with that team, no matter who the coach is.

Miami Heat Insiders are all saddened and shocked by this sudden turn of events...Especially Shaquille O’Neal...Nobody saw this coming...Everyone wishes Van Gundy well and are thankful that the Heat are left in Coach Riley's competent hands....

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Originally Posted by SenorSpur

Once Riles starts "cracking the whip", the vets on that team who never played for Riley will rue this day. The Heat have too many pussy-ass players who are set in their ways. Besides they're not going to beat Detroit with that team, no matter who the coach is.

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I'd love to be a fly on the wall after Antoine has gone through one of Riley's famous 4 hour practices...

Magic Johnson's Take...