reported on cold pizza. Miami Heat coach Pat Riley will take a leave of absence from the defending champion Miami Heat, NBA sources said Wednesday. Riley informed the team of his decision Wednesday morning. No immediate successor was named. The Heat are playing the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday before leaving on a six-game Western Conference trip. But insiders say Riley grew overwhelmed with the Heat's losing, at times this season frustrated with the declining level of play and apparent interest of several players. Riley called the Heat the poorest defensive team he's ever had with players frequently missing games with injuries. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...bulls-headlines
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Miami Heat coach Pat Riley will take a leave of absence, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday, citing unnamed league sources. According to the newspaper, Riley informed the team of the decision on Wednesday morning and an interim replacement was not immediately named. The Heat are scheduled to play the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday before embarking on a six-game Western road trip. The Heat, who have been without center Shaquille O'Neal, are off to a 13-17 start and currently out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference. </div> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2718720 Wow, surprising, but not shocking decision. I really can't blame him because everyone on this team except for Wade and Zo have played extremely poor for many stretches with lethargic effors and really there's not much he can do. I would of hoped to see how the team would play with Shaq back and Riley as coach, but that doesn't seem to bethe case. I thought this team had one more year in them, but as of now, I'm completely wrong.
If Riley is quitting because his team is losing, it's a chicken **** move on his part. He forced Stan Van Gundy to step down, and convieniently took over after Shaq returned from his injury. Now with both his superstars injured and a losing streak he wants to quit? Maybe he plans to return when Shaq and Wade return?
<div class="quote_poster">huevonkiller Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">He's leaving due to knee and hip surgery. This was later reported on Cold Pizza a few minutes later.</div> Ok, I'll give Pat a pass then. But why didn't he take care of this during the summer?
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">If Riley is quitting because his team is losing, it's a chicken **** move on his part. He forced Stan Van Gundy to step down, and convieniently took over after Shaq returned from his injury. Now with both his superstars injured and a losing streak he wants to quit?</div> If he wasn't returning, I would completely agree.
Like shape said, he seems kind of a feeble decision for such a great coach. You cant just leave your team when they start losing, you have to get through it with them. If i were another gm, i wouldnt give him a job knowing that he would quit when his team started losing. Of course, if its for a medical reason, i would completely understand that.
Riley just pulled off a Larry Brown trick. Bulls and Pistons have gotta be the clear cut favorites to get tot he finals.
If he quits and rehires Stan Van Gundy, I think all hell will break lose. It will most likely not happen. However SVG still has a small undefined role within the Heat organization. So they could very well promote him if they could get him to agree to it.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Center Alonzo Mourning missed Thursday's practice because of flu symptoms but did travel. ... During his radio interview, Riley said of the decision to step away and handle knee and hip issues, "If we were 25-2, would I have done it? Probably not." ... General Manager Randy Pfund was spotted Wednesday watching the pregame workout of Clippers forward Corey Maggette, who has been the subject of trade speculation. </div> Source Anyone want to rip Pat now and call him a quitter?
<div class="quote_poster">huevonkiller Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">He's leaving due to knee and hip surgery. This was later reported on Cold Pizza a few minutes later.</div> Yah right, just like Van Gundy left due to wanting to be with his family....
