The Houston Chronicle in today's edition indicated that Pat Riley may become a front-runner for the Rockets job. I wrote the following response to the Houston Rockets, please give your opinions. ------"I have been a Rockets fan since 1992, and have been going to games for nearly all my life. I can still remember games my father took me to in the eighties as a youngster. I have waited with patience for the Rockets to rebuild since Dream's departure, and I along with everyone else am quite excited about the possibilities with Francis and Yao. I was saddened along with the rest of the Rockets community to hear that Rudy T would not be returning to the Rockets bench in the Fall. My purpose in writing this letter is to voice my concerns in hiring Pat Riley. If he is chosen as coach, I will no longer consider myself a Rockets fan. Next to Jerry Sloan, he is one of the dirtiest coaches to play the game. His style of take-no-prisoners defense, keep fouling until the ref's whistles get tired, and all-around lack of offense do not fit what the Rockets as a team should be trying to accomplish. Even when his Heat teams were good they could not play offense; they simply played illegal forms of defense and, much like the Spurs, attempted to win the game by breaking the opponent down, literally. If memory serves, it was a Riley-coached Heat that broke Elie's hand in 1995. Is this what we want on the Rockets? If this happens, I will become as much an anti-fan of the Rockets as I ever was a fan. You would be much better off seeking Mike Dunleavy or Jeff Van Gundy. Both of them are used to babysitting players, which this team needs. Dunleavy has proven ability to take selfish me-first players and to transform them into a team in what he did with the Portland Trailblazers. Van Gundy did a similar job with the Knicks. Hire one of these guys, because they provide what the Rockets desparately need in this arena, someone who can force teamplay on a team full of individuals. Regards, 1aggie02----"
did you send those mad faces too? just playin! ive been a fan since the early 90's myself and imo, pat riley aint ft fo the rocs. id rather see JVG or larry brown be our new head coach.
I question anyone who say's that they will no longer be a fan if a team hires someone that they do not like. Les could hire Sloan, Karl Malone, Riley and who ever else and the Rockets would still be my team. Maybe its because I have been a fan a hell of a lot longer than since 1992. Or maybe its just because I am a real fan of the team. There is no question about my dislike of Jeff Van Gumby but watch how quickly he gets my support if he becomes the next head coach.
Riley is on top of my dislike-list right up there with Pippen. I don't want to see him a Rocket. But I agree with crash, Id still be a Rockets fan no matter what. I'd just bash Riley as much as I can like some people on this board do to Rudy.
i want the best coach possible regardless of personal feelings. I want someone who will reign in our young players. A person who is not afraid to bench his stars in a game if they screw up. I also want a guy who runs an offense inside out not the other way around.
TOO LATE EASY! I personally would love to have Pat Riley, mainly because of the fact that he's won using 2 totally different styles of basketball from Showtime to Knick/Heat time. Anyone remember how he almost won Coach of the Year just a year ago? I know there's some burnout issues with him, but I think if you give him a fresh young team with a future, he can create something with them. I'd take Pat Riley before any other coach being mentioned right now... The people that talk about his style of "Good D/No O" have totally forgotten about Showtime...the man simply uses the style that best fits his team...
I second those thoughts. I've been a Rockets fan since 1980 when I moved to Houston and started going to the games. As long as the new coach is not a lightweight, I'm 100% in their corner until they prove otherwise.
PAT RILEY WOULD BE GREAT. Wasn't he the coach of Jeff Van Gundy or something?!? He is one of only SEVEN COACHES who has won consecutive titles. He would be great....... BUT LARRY BROWN IS BETTER! They are all under contract........ugh.
well said BGM. People obviously do not remember Riley's LAkers teams. Exciting, fast and furious. Offense was great. I will always be a Rocks fan, no matter who is coach. But I think Riley could instill some fire and a winning attitude.
I think Riley is not only overrated (what has he done since his laker days?), but completely done. All that stuff that went down with the refs this year. He's gone off the deep end. He would be a complete distraction. Besides, doesn't he own 10% of the Heat? Why would he leave?
Someone needs to be a voice of reason on this thread so I'll take the hits for being it. The Rockets lack on court maturity and discipline, the very that Riley is recognized for instituting in his teams throughout his career. The argument against Riley would be that today's player doesn't relate to Riley's harsh practices and players would not want to play for him. I'd turn around and say that Riley attracts players that want to win and like Riley, will do whatever it takes to win. If a player complains that Riley's too tough, I don't think I want that player on my team anyway because if you don't want to work hard, what good are you to the team? And come on, even if Riley's practices are difficult, how difficult could they be. The players are still practicing no more than 3 to 4 hours a day and that's half of what the majority of working America works. And they get paid unbelieveable salaries while doing so. What I'm trying to say is even if Riley's practices are tough, the job is still easier than 90 percent of the freakin' world if not more. I think the Rockets could use a coach like Riley more than most teams right now. They do not need a player's coach who will continue to let Francis run around taking bad shots and crossing over the shot clock down to zero so that he can sell shoes. ANy of you that believe Francis when he says he wants to win need to look real hard at how he conducts himself on the court. He doesn't practice what he preaches. A coach like Riley would put an end to that.
I've never doubted Riley's coaching ability. If you watched his antics the last couple seasons then you've seen him losing it. You can say he's fighting for his team but when he creates a personal vendeta with the refs then he's gone a little overboard.
Did you happen to catch who the Rockets were playing in the 1994 NBA Finals? That wasn't the Lakers that Riley was coaching. As for whether or not Riley is done, that remains to be seen. I think it would be more than unfair to blame the Heat's failures the past 3 years on Riley. Alonzon Mourning was runner up for MVP in 2000 before the kidney problems took him away from the game. You can't lose a player like Mourning, Duncan, or Shaq and expect the team not to totally collapse. The Heat's demise is simply due to Mourning's absence and the cap space Mourning occupies which did not allow Riley to replace him. Not that Riley didn't try as he always does. The Brian Grant acquisition was a great move considering the salary cap nightmare the Heat are currently working within. I also thought the Travis Best acquisition was a good one even though it didn't work out this season. Riley is doing the best he can with what he has in Miami and should be commended for not ditching the team when most coaches would have, 10 percent ownership or not. That's a bad situation in Miami and Riley has faced and managed it like a man. I'm sure his critics point to his controversies with the refs this season. Yeah, Riley sounded like an idiot, but I again point to the frustrating situation he's in more than anyhting else. Riley reacts that way because he's a winner and doesn't know how to deal with the kind of losing he's been seeing in Miami the past few years. And you guys are hungrier for Jeff Van Gundy? Sheesh!!
I was thinking during the last part of the season that RILEY needed to take some time off from coaching. But I do want a coach that can grab the players by the ???? and get them to pay attention and run the plays and pass the ball and move without the ball. I want a coach who can CRACK THE WHIP!!
I fully agree Crash. I trust the opinion of CD and Les on this hire. Whoever they feel is the right man for the job I will support. We are not sitting in on the interviews of potential coaches so we really have no idea what is being said. Plus, there are so many variables that determine whether someone does a perceived good or bad job at a certain destination that its almost a crapshoot. Its true Riley's teams in NY and Mia played a tough grind it out style, but he really didnt have the personnell to do much else. In LA, Riley had a very high octane team and used to regularly put up over 110 pts in games. Ofcourse, someone who just became a Rockets fan in 1992 like this poster has probably has never seen what the Showtime era was all about. Btw aggie, Mario Elie's hand was broken by Jalen Rose of the DENVER Nuggets. This team was not coached by Riley.
Pat Riley's philosophy was to take the best offensive players possible and teach them defense. In Miami, he never really had any offensive players that weren't injured. Tim Hardaway? Mourning? No. Not enough. Anyways...again, I just restate. The only problem I have with Pat is his perception that he refs are "against" him.
Uh..yeah, I remember reading something about that. He took 1 team to the finals in 15 years. I'm not saying he's not a good coach. I just don't think he's as great as the media hype that always precedes him says he is. I also don't think the time is right. Like OUTITAN says, his antics over the last few years show he's losing it. He would be a distraction.
