Mmanal wrote: "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. " I may not remember as much as the showtime era as you, since I was born in 1979, but I do remember going to Rockets games where they would give out coupons for free big macs if the Rockets scored more than 120 pts in a game, and it actually happened more often than not....these days, the Mavs give coupons for scoring more than 100. The fact that Riley's Lakers scored 110 pts a night back in the eighties was more a product of the times than it was the fact that he was any special kind of coach. There is no way a Riley-coached team could score even 100 pts/game in todays league, partially because teams started looking for linebackers more than they look for shooters. This is a trend that Riley helped start with his defensive-minded Knicks teams in the early nineties. Oh, and give me Magic, Worthy, Abdul-Jabbar, and the other great players from that era, and I think even my grandma could coach them to a championship. They were virtually unchallenged in the West in those days, except for a few upstart Houston teams. Boston was the only other team that was even on the same level as them. In these days, the talent is more spread out, and the West is much tougher than it was in the Showtime era. Pat Riley is washed out as a coach, and he has no business being considered for the Rockets job. Perhaps I was a little rash in saying I would not be a fan anymore if he became coach, but I would be very very upset if he came here, and I would definitely hope that he moved on quickly.
The thing about Riley recently is the way he handcuffs players. Look at how much better Mashburn and Ricky Davis have become after leaving Riley. Its still hard to believe that a team with a then effective Hardaway,Mourning,Mashburn an Pj Brown could avg 90pts per game before the zone defenses. I think the game has passed him by, much like Rudy. It still strikes my bewilderment how he can go from showtime to slowtime despite winning 128 of 144 games when the Heat scored 100 pts. It just seem like he was playing to their weakness instead of their stregnth. I would think that with a ratio like that, i would try to score 100pts every game or close to it.
76er fans and Piston fans may disagree with you on that. Both teams played the Lakers twice in the finals during the 80's and both teams won a championship against the Lakers in the finals during the 80's.
Well after reading all the posts I am back at stage one with my thinking. Seems like all the coaches are crap. I got into the wrong bussiness lol. I guess I would take Dunleavey. I, however, would would love seeing Riley riding these young spoiled millionaires arses. Mabey I will just take my billion dollars and buy the Rockets and coach them myself. First thing I would do is trade the entire team except for Yao baby, make a deal for Garnett AND Brand , then fill the rest of the roster with whoever and win the next 10 championships . Simple huh? With all the crappy coaches in the NBA you need a coach proof team, like the teams that the so called great coaches have had that have been winning the championships the last 60 years or so. I would get those guys and bring Rudy back in a year or so after I got the roster settled. I think all these so called legendary coaches are overrated. Give me 3 outta the best 5 players in the NBA and I can win the championship. I hope someone from the Rocks org. reads these things and hires me.
Exactly. Great post. This explains how Barkley went from being hated in Houston (as a Sun) to absolutely adored in the span of 1 year.
fortunately, his Rocket days were before my time. I know Pat Riley only as a coach, not a player. Riley is the exact opposite of Rudy. If Rudy is a "player's coach" Riley is a "anti-player's coach." All players he coached (with the exception of maybe Mourning) hate him. Magic Johnson hates him. He doesn't care about the players. All he cares is winning. I want winning. But I want a guy who wins the loyalty of his players too.
