Until more people start talking, I'd have to assume SVG stepped down voluntarily. Look, its one thing to simply state that you are leaving for family reasons. But the way it's being reported–tears and sad speaches–that's either brilliant theater or a genuine explanation.
Donut I am right there with you... Too many people are making of assumptions of what happened and know ones exactly what happened and as you all of you know... ASSUMPTIONS is the mother of all F up's!!!! So with that said I will have to take the story as is until we get a "Doc" from the Heat to give us an update..
I admit that I am among those who jump to conclusion. And I also freely admit that I am biased against Riley. I never liked him, ever since his Lakers days. He is one of the biggest egos in the NBA. Even though there is no proof yet whether he did push Stan out, I would not be surprised at all if he did.
No, I just think one of the top five coaches in NBA history deserves a little more respect than he's getting. I don't think that Van Gundy or Riley would be giving out as many details if he were really shoved out the door, especially the line out Riley not having looked at a playbook in two years. Why would he say something like that if he's been plotting to get rid of Van Gundy? All it does is make him look unprepared. I'm sure that Riley put glycerin in his eyes when he was crying at the press conference, also. There are also plenty of well documented cases of coaching burnout.
I'm making an assumption based on Riley trying to run this guy out of town earlier until he caught flack in the media.
Yep. This reminds me of the Greg Popovich thing. Popovich"Hey Bob, how's it going." Bob HIll "...................." Greg Popovich "David's coming back.' Bob Hill"........................" Popovich"You're fired."
Well, whatever, I personally think he quit because he wasn't having fun coaching that team, and his players were turning against him, so he resigned. However, the opportunity to coach an elite team doesn't come around that often, would you let it go like that? There's a good chance that he was forced out too or he might really want to spend time with his family. Anyway, how do the Heat change now? Do they force their offense around Shaq? Slow it down like the old Knicks? It's going to be interesting to see...
Wait, some of you guys would take Riley over Stan Van Gundy to coach a team right now? I admit Riley was a great coach, but my last impression was of him was a man who couldn't get a young, talented team to win. Only to have his assistant come in and lead the same team to the playoffs.
Just heard Riley and Stan talk on Miami radio, 790 the ticket. Stan insists that he wants to spend more time with his family, and that he decided to quit a month ago and Riley has been trying to talk him out of quitting. Riley insists that he's only doing this for the good of the team, since he couldn't convince Stan to stay. If you believe all that, then I have some rural south Florida real estate to sell you. You will want to wait until the dry season to look at it, though.
I persoally have nothing against riley, other than the five or so seasons he tried to ruin the NBA with his thug ball. other than that, the guy is the first pick in Rockets draft history. I can't hate him.
It was just a matter of time before this happens. This Heat team has too much potential for Riley to just sit there and watch. Too bad for SVG, he's a good coach and really deserves to be HC somewhere else.
Riley is trying to recapture his glory days with The Lakers at SVG expense. Anybody who knows pro sports knows that the family are on the back burner. Riley never did anything with the old Heat teams he coached. Didn't they all go out in the 1st round? Let's see if this move back fires on him and he tanks again.
It's interesting that Stan is doing something similar, in a way, with what Jeff did. Didn't JVG quit suddenly with the Knicks? Who knows what's really behind it, but Riles has had an amazing record as a coach. Had some great players as well, which didn't hurt. I wouldn't mind seeing Stan on the Rockets bench. Doesn't sound like that will happen, but we'll see.
I think people are forgetting that the team that SVG took to the playoffs had one important change from the Riley teams. Namely Dwayne Wade.
Riley pressure him from the start. During the summer, when the rumors of Riley firing Van Gundy popped up Riley waited weeks to kill the rumor. Then he said that he was going to have a more hands on approach instead of being a GM. He pushed Van Gundy out the door.
Hey, I'm not a huge Riley fan, but look at it this way: whether you think it's a consipracy, or you think Stan really stepped down, Stan Van Gundy still wins. He proved himself as a legitimate coach. If there's a conspiracy, everybody in the league will know the score. If he needs a break, he handled it in a classy way, but I don't see a Van Gundy needing a break. I mean, something just tells me that the Van Gundy kids aren't going to be very happy that their dad quit coaching. Basketball is a family obsession with those guys. Either way, owners know that the guy is a class act and will play ball with management decisions. He didn't leave the team hanging. Riley obviously is capable and very willing to take over. So it's a win-win. It makes a lot of sense that this was pre-arranged, either 2 years ago or before the season started. But who knows, maybe he really did quit. Unlikely, but maybe.
You may think Rileys was crying a little at the press conference, but he acutally was shedding tears of joy. Looks can be decieving.
