Pat Riley Blasts Otis Smith, Stan Van Gundy, and Others Critical of His Miami Heat

Not exactly either. Miami and Riley, (even tho Miami Heat and their fans hate SVG and think he’s a bad coach wink wink), almost never let SVG go to Orlando. It was assumed Orlando paid Miami, essentially traded for him. There could’ve easily been multiple non disclosure agreements.

Ok, thanks for coming over and telling us. :D

Miami was up three games to two over the Pistons when Wade hurt his ribs and missed Game 6 and was not at full strength for Game 7, as he shot just 7 of 20 and finished with 20 points in the 88-82 Pistons’ win.

You can say that bad coaching calls were made by Van Gundy and I’ll respect your opinion, but having no D-Wade for Game 6 and a sub-par Wade for Game 7 hurt the Heat more than anything else.

Maybe the Heat players didn’t like Van Gundy, no one here ever said he was a player’s coach. He is blunt and in your face, maybe players who were admittedly partying every single night on South Beach had no patience for listening to a real coach. It is quite possible. But to denigrate the man’s coaching ability is folly, he has a proven track record of success to go with your proven track record of pissing off players. As a fan, I like coaches that don’t tip toe around players but demand the best and say it like they see it. You say we are homers for defending Stan, but I think the opposite is tru, you are showing homerism by trash talking a former coach of yours in order to make Riley seem better or justified. I have a feeling Stan didn’t put up with the all night parties of his superstars-the same thing that he battled Hedo about. But Wade and Shaq will win that fight everytime without a GM with a backbone. Unfortunately Riley decided to undermine him so that he could be the man, but it all worked out and everyone is happy. I say I will agree to disagree about Stan’s abilities.

…Miami improved by at least 15 wins over the previous year in both seasons. The Heat went from 25 wins in 2002-03 to 42 wins in 03-04; then went from 42 wins to 59 wins in 04-05.

This is the only time in NBA history that a team has improved their record by at least 15 games from the previous season in a head coach’s first two years with the team. Of course, the players deserve credit for that also, but SVG’s coaching had something to do with it too, even if you think the players didn’t trust him or that he made bad coaching decisions.

I will give Pat Riley credit for leading the Heat to the championship in ‘06 (that was a heck of a comeback after losing the first two games to the Mavs), but if Van Gundy had remained Heat coach, who’s to say that the Heat would or wouldn’t have won it all. It’s just speculation, so we’ll never know.

I mean if reporters were in my face everyday after work, there is no telling what I would say. You keep bringing up Stan’s coaching which has a fantastic record though, you really shouldn’t use that as ammo.

He’s got a much better all round game than Amare too, although he’s not as dynamic.

I think Pau’s the best, then Dirk, with Bosh just behind them.

His not playing let them get a higher draft pick (i.e. young talent) to aid in the rebuilding process. As opposed to what? Being blown to smithereens in the first round by the Cavs.