<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> The contents of Riley's mystery bowl -- a structure that sat covered up on the floor of the Heat locker room throughout the playoffs adorned with "Do Not Touch" signs -- had been revealed, and all across the floor were scattered thousands upon thousands of small pieces of paper, each about the size of a baseball card, bearing the words "15 Strong" on one side. On the other side of each card was a different message, depending on the player who put it there. Some of the cards had family pictures, others had drawings of the Larry O'Brien trophy, still others had pictures of players' families or of championship rings. "The bowl was 120,000 of these, that's all," Riley said. "We took on a slogan, a motto or whatever you wish, but it was really about 15 guys being strong. There was a lot of conjecture throughout the course of the year about our team, its character, about certain players and how it wouldn't work, the chemistry. People don't know. People don't know how much these guys really wanted it." </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> They were also blessed to have a supporting cast that bought into the theory that they would have to play second fiddle, a dynamic that wouldn't have been possible if they hadn't bought into Riley's yearlong project of dumping all those "15 Strong" cards into that big mystery bowl. "Every game we came closer and closer and put more and more stuff in," <font color="#000000">Gary Payton</font> said. "We brought a wheelbarrow in to put stuff in because he gave us a story about trusting people and pushing a wheelbarrow across a tightrope. He's a great motivator. He did what he was supposed to do. He got us to play the way we were supposed to play, and we stuck together." The wheelbarrow tale that Riley told the team was believed to be this: In 1859 the Great Blondin, the man who invented the high-wire act, announced to the world that he intended to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope. As the story goes, 5,000 people gathered to watch. Halfway across, Blondin suddenly stopped, steadied himself, backflipped into the air, landed squarely on the rope, and then continued safely to the other side. Just as he was about to begin yet another crossing, this time pushing a wheelbarrow, he turned to the crowd and shouted, "Who believes that I can cross pushing this wheelbarrow?" Every hand in the crowd went up. Blondin pointed at one man. "Do you believe that I can do it?" he asked. "Yes, I believe you can," said the man. "Are you certain?" Blondin asked. "Yes," said the man. "Absolutely certain?" "Yes, absolutely certain." "Thank you," said Blondin. "Then, sir, get into the wheelbarrow." Riley had been pooh-poohing his proclivity for making motivational speeches, saying throughout this series and the earlier rounds of the playoffs that his rah-rah days were behind him. </div> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?pa...ailydime-060621
The message really got across to this team. They were so great together I hope Pat Riley comes back next year.
Is Riley coming back next season? Wasn't he quoted as saying that this would probably be his last season?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheBlackMamba:</div><div class="quote_post">Is Riley coming back next season? Wasn't he quoted as saying that this would probably be his last season?</div> Yeah, he said he doesn't want to be the coach next year, but after winning it all this year, I get the feeling that he wants to return for atleast one more year.
I hope Riley comes back for next year, Hes a coaching genious one of the greatest coaches of all time, that mystery bowl was perfect and it definitely motivated the Heat players.
