Pat Riley is overrated- he's someone who was in the right place to ride Magic's talent and not get in the way- and on his own he relied on intensity to make up for strategy- His guys won when they played hard- when did Pat outsmart another coach- he got punked by Van Gundy every time except for the cheap 97 BS and won with Prime Shaq, Prime Wade and Alonso playing his heart out- he gets guys to buy in, he demands the best and can get the stars attention but he is not an all time BBall genius - His savvy is based on his desire- he doesn't suck- but it's fun to say! Pat the Rat!
Fax this
Shaq wasn't in his prime when he joined Miami. He had lost a step. He was still a good player though.
My thanks to UltimateKnicks.com for being a distinguished forum for gallant, spirited discussion.
Amare JR and Stanford Fields for Wade, Haslem
US
Lin/Chalmers
Wade/Shump TD until Shump is healthy
Melo/Novak/Jeffries
Haslem/Melo/Jorts/Jeffries
Tyson/JJordan
THEM
Nash(that's the bad news)/Coles
Landry /JR
Lebron
Bosh
Amear/Joel Anthony
Coach just for fun
If Indy wins out and Wade and Miami have issues- couldn't that make sense? They'd have to know they could get Nash - and I see Wade and Amare being more useful to both teams- Letting go of JR and Landry helps w $ to sign Lin and Novak- The PF position w Carmelo as SF works best w good defenders/rebounders and guys who spread the floor and give him room- Haslem is worn out but in limited minutes as a starter would be good for us and I believe in Jort's guts and skillset- I think he has talent and doesn't play scared- as a 2nd yr player I bet he has a vg year- I'm sure he's well aware of what kept him off the floor-
For Miami- LeBron with a great PG and two talented bigs would be amazing to watch- and Landry would be the perfect boring SG to start with them- and JR flying off the bench would be fun for Miami - and his role would be perfectly set up and limited- Neither Bosh or Amare would be overworked in the regular season-
We would still be the underdog- but with awesome talent that matches up well- better ball all around
Just Dreaming. If anyone thinks there is any reason Miami would do it, please chime in. I'm obviously too fired up for Miami being down 2-1. But I've been on this site for a while and who else am I going to run my delusional trade idea by at 2:56 AM?
You gotta post your trade idea in its own thread to get some feedback (most if it likely to be derisive) Be brave! Go for it!
If the only place Riley had any success was in LA I would agree with you but he totally changed his philosophy and brought the Knicks to within one game of a title. Not to mention getting the Heat to buy in when he was the coach there. I agree he was a rat for the way he left NY, but Riley still is a great coach.
The way things have gone down in MSG for coachs in the JImmy Dolan era I'd say Riles saw the hand writing on the wall and left for an amazing opportunity with an owner willing to give him control, a massive contract and partial ownwership.
Maybe even more was respect.
If things were as we might suspect that both Donnie left after as he did not agree with the Melo trade and MDA demanding Melo be traded (not likly so in a way he forced his departure) then I kind of have respect for these guys.
Van Gundy flat out resigned and when guys took the money they got treated badly. Chaney and Wilkens were. Larry Brown was clearly frustrated, was not doing a good job, had no control over Marbury or his roster, and basically did everything he could to get fired. His roadside chats were clearly in violation to his contract.
HE so wanted to be fired. He wanted out. When was the last time you ever saw a coach leave like that. His agent joe glass as smart enough to put in his contract the clause that David Stern mediate any disputes. Glass knew what a little turd Dolan can be. Larry got 24mil in one year.
NOw Dolan got Woodson who has been been with his agent for years to fire him. Add woodson to a long list of coaches taking the money and compromising. Joe and Keith Glass did good for Woodson and DOlan makes him fire them. Not very cool. This is a great opportunity for woodson and Dolan knows he can control him. Forcing him to fire Glass is really low.
This is why Jax is not even being entertained. Knicks know he is old, successful and set in his ways and he will out smart Jimmy.
So in retrospect, I did not like the way Riles left but in hindsight he was the smart one.
