what's the big deal? It looks like he's been trying to resign for the past month 1/2. I don't like Pat Riley but don't think he is to blame here.
While it was good of him to give SVG the chair, there's a hole in your take that he resigned late to do so. Riley is and was then the Heat President of Operations and GM. How exactly would the head coach not be the one of his choosing? Riles took Zo, Timmy, and Mash as far as he could (burning them out in the process with his practice demands), knew the team was going to have to rebuild, and he decided to get out of the ring before people got on his case about it. He didn't want to further tarnish the pretty bio across110st laid out for us. He was good to let SVG have the head coaching job, but don't think he didn't start to want it back when they became contenders again. There was speculation before the season that Riles stacked the roster with so much talent (raising expectations) and headcases (compounding the problem of getting the team to gel) that it would force SVG out if he couldn't make it all work quick. And here we are. Evan
Hard to say that Riley kicked Van Gundy out at this moment. AP Van Gundy said he resigned voluntarily. "I made this decision for one reason and one reason only: I love my family," Van Gundy said. 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. Riley's eyes welled with tears as Van Gundy announced the reasons for his decision. Van Gundy said Riley has tried for weeks to persuade him to stay. "It came down to a choice, and for me, the choice was clear," Van Gundy said. He said he will remain in the organization, and insisted he had no desire to coach elsewhere in the NBA.
Uhhh... no, it doesn't preclude that possibility. I never said that. The problem I have is that many people seem to think that's the only possible conclusion that can be drawn here, which is just dumb. Give Riley a little credit, eh? I don't know why people absolutely insist on jumping all over him when it's perfectly possible SVG resigned for his own reasons. Add to that the fact that it hasn't even been oficially announced (to my knowledge) that Riley is back coaching, that's just a logical solution. If Riley did push SVG out, that's pretty uncool. I agree with that. But I don't think he did. My memory ain't perfect, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Riley owns the Heat. So sure, his position(s) suggest that he makes those decisions, but the owner ultimately can override any decision. I remember reading that ownership would have gone after a big name had Riley resigned earlier.
Riley's 1995 contract included provisions that would make him part-owner (though not immediately), which he is now. Since day 1, Micky Arison has given Riles the keys and has never interferred. It would have been shocking if he overrode Riley on the head coaching decision, seeing has he's yet to do so on any of his moves. Evan
I've considered both sides and this is one of those situations where both sides are right to a certain extent. I have no doubt a large part of this has to do with Riley's ego. He didn't want to go through the rebuilding phase so he installed a no-name coach to take over for him. Now that a championship ring is possible, he wants the reins back. However, there is no doubt that Riley has more playoff experience and is the proven champion between the two coaches. If I owned the Heat, I would definitely prefer Riley over SVG, provided that my star players supported this move. Which brings us to Shaq. Do you think this move would be possible without at least the tacit consent of Shaq? I wouldn't be surprised if Shaq also pushed for the change. He only has one or two seasons left to win his last championship. He doesn't have time to wait for SVG to get the necessary playoff experience. As to whether or not this was a backstabbing move, well, it certainly looks like it from the outside. However, isn't it also possible that Riley had told SVG this was going to happen before he gave him the head coaching job? Even if Riley is acting like a jerk, the fact remains that SVG got a chance to showcase his coaching talents, a chance he might not have had otherwise without Riley's intervention.
I have to agree Riley has had a very distinguished coaching and management career in the NBA. I give the guy credit, he is a deal maker extraordinaire, kind of the Gordon Gekko of the NBA and it benefits the league. The two biggest stories in the past 2 years were the O'Neal trade and the Walker/JWill blockbuster deal this offseason, these deals created an enormous amount of buzz for the NBA. I think its great that Riley chose to coach the team himself instead of promoting one of the assistants. With him as coach the credit or blame now falls squarely on his shoulders for the this teams success or failure.
he left when the heat sucked,there were almost instant rumors when shaq jumped on board, svg did good with the heat these past two years and was happy for him after that 0-7 start, its like pats a "fair whether coach"
I can't believe some of you are defending Riley just because he is a good coach, or buy the SVG wanted out defense. Riley tried to fire this guy earlier this year.
I wouldn't want to coach that team either, the Riley rumors, everyone on that team has complained about his coaching at least once this season, and the most influential player on the team, Shaq, was against him. What stinks about this is that all the dishonesty and back stabbing that went on will probably go unpunished since they still have a great chance at winning the title. Not fair, not right. They don't have a great mix of players, but they do have plenty of movable contracts/talent, they can get into the Ron Artest discussions, Stephen Jackson, Stephon Marbury, Peja and all the other Kings that are probably available. Weak.
Van Gundy said with his own mouth during the press conference that he wanted to spend more time with his family. I don't know how much more proof anybody needs. There must be a buy one get one free sale for haterade at Wal Mart...
Sometimes, when a guy says he wants to spend more time with his family, it's a polite way of saying that he wants to spend less time with his boss. In this case, that would mean that both are true: Van Gundy is telling the truth, and Riley pushed him out.
LOL, exactly. I can't believe A-train is so naive on this issue. Maybe he just wants to defend Riley. As for Stan Van Gundy, this is a guy who started his head coach career two years ago. He hasn't accomplished anything yet, has a good team right now and has a shot at the title, and yet he wants to quit in the middle of the season and spend more time with his family? Is he crazy? I think not. For those Riley admirers, I am not denying he is a great coach, but Heats did suck in the late stage of his coaching and he seemed worn out in the end. It is fact!
