Is Miami Heat President Pat Riley ready to surrender or STOP THE BLEEDING? - Keith Allison photo

NBA BEAT Part 2 - MIAMI HEAT'S ONLY TITLE WITH RILEY

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

The belief was that Riley wanted to try to regain his former glory by coaching Miami to its first NBA Championship. He went on to accomplish that with an aging veteran team - PART 1 - THE HEAT IS ON

THE LIFE OF RILEY... CHANGING PLACES

Friday November 26, 2010

When Pat Riley resumed coaching the Miami Heat on December 12, 2005, replacing Stan Van Gundy after the Heats disappointing 11-10 start Van Gundy resigned in order to "spend more time with [his] family."

The move came as a shock to the basketball community, with some speculating that with Shaquille O'Neal returning from injury, Dwyane Wade having his best season yet, and a high-caliber roster including Gary Payton, Jason Williams and Antoine Walker. The belief was that Riley wanted to try to regain his former glory by coaching Miami to its first NBA Championship. He went on to accomplish that with an aging veteran team.

His Heat finished the regular season with a 52-30 record and took 1st place in the Southeastern Division. They defeated the Chicago Bulls 4-2 in a best of seven game series in the Eastern Conference first round. They knocked of the New Jersey Nets 4-1 in the semifinals.

Riley's aging warriors then defeated his former Los Angeles Lakers days nemesis, the Detroit Pistons 4-2 in the 2006 Eastern Conference playoffs final on June 2, 2006, making it the first time the Miami Heat reached the NBA finals. Riley's Heat then squared off against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. Despite losing the first two games to the Mavericks, the Heat rallied to win the next four games and their first NBA title.

It was Riley's fifth championship as a head coach, and his first with a team other than the Lakers. Riley became the only NBA coach to take three different teams to the NBA Finals and joined Alex Hannum and Phil Jackson as the only coaches to coach two different teams to NBA titles. He also became the only coach to twice replace a coach in mid-season and take that team to an NBA title.

The following season Riley's Heat fell from grace with a regular season record of 44-38 and swept by the Bulls 4-0 in the first round of the playoffs. The 2007-2008 season the Heat hit the wall, crashed and burned.

On April 28, 2008, Riley stepped down as coach of the Miami Heat after the team finished with an NBA-worst 15-67 record, the worst regular season output of his career. He appointed his then assistant Spoelstra as his replacement and Riley remained the team president.

When Riley took over the Heat in 2005 there was talent but not the quality of talent the Heat currently have with Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. He took over an aging team of veterans including O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker and whipped them into shape to win the NBA title. Riley's coaching strengths include good game plans, substitution patterns and ego management skills.

Ego management was the key when he coached the Lakers of the 80's that had talent equal to or better than the current Heat line-up. Riley had a job to blend major egos with the likes of Magic Johnson who has a massive ego as big as his talent. The other problem Riley had to overcome was Riley himself who was under the spotlight as he took the job from Paul Westhead who coached the Lakers to the title the previous season in 1980.

Although Riley was an assistant coach of the 1980 title team he still had to take the reigns and prove himself and gain the respect of his players as he was only 36-years-old just three years older than their then top star Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

Jabbar had a quiet persona but was strong willed. During the 80's decade the spotlight shifted from, as Johnson called him the Big Fella (Jabbar) being the leader to Johnson. As Johnson gained confidence and control of the team it was Riley who had to design a team and game strategy as to who would be the go to guy. As Jabbar aged and his skills diminished Riley had to adjust and cook up his game plans. He proved to be a master chef as the four Lakers of the 80's titles under his reign attest.

In their first two titles the Lakers won with the mild mannered Keith Wilkes and the fiery point guard Norm Nixon. Nixon and Johnson had a problem as to who was going to be the point guard and run the team. The result was Johnson won and Nixon was traded to the then San Diego Clippers for Byron Scott.

Riley, Johnson and Jabbar were later joined by James Worthy, and draft choice AC Green. Worthy Scott and Green Scott were the go along with the program types and helped Riley win three more titles 1985, 1987, 1988. Green was with the 87 and 88 teams. The unsung but steady Michael Cooper was the only player with Johnson and Jabbar to be a member of all five Lakers titles in the 80's.

From a player personnel standpoint this Heat scenario now resembles the Nixon, Johnson Lakers era of conflict of roles. From a coaching standpoint it resembles the Van Gundy era. When Riley stopped the bleeding in 2005 it was a quarter of the way through the season at 21 games. That raises the question is that the critical point of make a change by then or if not be in a position of no return? Spoelstra is a nice guy but as Donald Trump says its not personal... just business.

Questions remain does Riley have enough fire in his 65-year-old belly to come out of the office to be on the bench again to massage those Heat egos and meld their talents and lead them to the heights that they were expected to achieve and win an NBA title? Stay tuned...

National Radio text is published in five languages, English, Thai, French, Russian and Khmer (Cambodian language). Any of our foreign language material and our Roman Wanderaugh columns is legally available ONLY on our National Radio site. Our sports, entertainment and feature programming has been broadcast on over 1000 radio stations.