Pat Riley gives one on one interview with skolnick

[DefenseWins]

I know our team would have been generational, cause Pat would have moved around more pieces, but the mentality and competitive edge was really dwindling. It was best for everyone to move on honestly. The bad habits just piled up. They were starting to feel too comfortable, too good about themselves. It also started with the maintainence program with Wade. Never knowing when he will play, and thinking don't worry it's only the playoffs that matter anyway... Only for him to be winded and still hurt in the finals.

Of course I would have liked to keep them together but idk, something was off last year. Even in game 2 when we won. It's why we struggled this year even. We were so use to showing up and winning and just didn't know what to do to get out of that funk, then the injuries piled up...

I like where this team is going offensively. Just need Dragic to handle the ball moving forward, he simply has a high motor compared to Wade these days, but that's next year. Wade can still score but his old bones take awhile to get going, Dragic wants to get him easy buckets. Bosh and Dragic will be a good duo, and people fearing Wade still who is a willing passer. It's going to be fun

[DefenseWins]

Also Skolnik on his Twitter has additional pieces and he talked about how he sees Whiteside, Beasley, possibly Johnson as make ups for all those picks we gave up to get Bosh and Lebron.

Quite frankly we couldn't have done better in the draft getting those guys in the lotto by ourselves for sure. It's no wonder they kept going to the d league.

Also HILARIOUS when he talked about 2006 when they were up 3 in game 6 and Wade out his hand around Pat and giving the impression that the game was over and Riley said "This game is NOT over!!", and then Wade missed those 2 FTs to go up 4 or 5 smh... But lucky that Terry didn't make the shot nor was Payton called for grabbing his jersey. Joked that he was happy that dick Bacerta wasn't there lmaooo

[twix2500]

am i going crazy but a whole page is missing from this topic when i read on my computer, instead on my phone

[3ballbomber]

Well, let's not forget that LeBron James will become a free agent next season, if he chooses to go on that road. Pat Riley has started the recruiting process. There are also rumors of Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City looking for a sign-and-trade agreement. I firmly believe that those rumors will become a reality. After gathering Gragic, Wade, Bosh and Whiteside, Miami has to be among the three best destinations to acquire the services of Durant. Honestly, I do have great expectations for this upcoming season. "NBA teams using internal data are projecting the salary cap to jump to between $88 million and $92 million per team, sources told ESPN." Goran Dragic (16,125,000), Dwyane Wade (16,125,000), Chris Bosh ($23,741,060) and Hassan Whiteside (16,125,000) adds for a total of $72,116,060. Considering that the salary cap will jump to $92 million per team, even a maximun salary of $30 million for some one like Kevin Durant or LeBron James is not out of the question.

lebron? really?


We build it the right way this time....no more super-team bs. We need depth....Solid back up C, Solid back up SG, solid back up PG, 3 pt specialist etc. We strengthen our bench and we take the East.

[HIF]

UD to replace Riley - in 10 years.

[JLop]

Well, let's not forget that LeBron James will become a free agent next season, if he chooses to go on that road. Pat Riley has started the recruiting process. There are also rumors of Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City looking for a sign-and-trade agreement. I firmly believe that those rumors will become a reality. After gathering Gragic, Wade, Bosh and Whiteside, Miami has to be among the three best destinations to acquire the services of Durant. Honestly, I do have great expectations for this upcoming season. "NBA teams using internal data are projecting the salary cap to jump to between $88 million and $92 million per team, sources told ESPN." Goran Dragic (16,125,000), Dwyane Wade (16,125,000), Chris Bosh ($23,741,060) and Hassan Whiteside (16,125,000) adds for a total of $72,116,060. Considering that the salary cap will jump to $92 million per team, even a maximun salary of $30 million for some one like Kevin Durant or LeBron James is not out of the question.

lebron? really?


We build it the right way this time....no more super-team bs. We need depth....Solid back up C, Solid back up SG, solid back up PG, 3 pt specialist etc. We strengthen our bench and we take the East.

You and I are basketball fan. We always think about having the best team. The true of the matter is that the Miami Heat is a business. Therefore, their first priority is to sell. And as an NBA franchise if you want to sell, you will need a super star player. I am not a fan of bringing back LeBron James. On the other hand, Kevin Durant would be ideal for the Heat. Let's be real for a moment, those two players (whoever you choose) are a boost to sell all kind of merchandise, tickets and TV ratings. Luol Deng is not the player that Pat Riley had in mind. At the end of the day, you get what you can. But make no mistake, Anthony Davis (I am throwing his name to the list), LeBron James and Kevin Durant are and will be the focus of this franchise or any other franchise in the NBA (at least for a while).

[batterybro42]

KD in that foot injury no thanks

People don't see that injury for what it is, a potential career ender

His best days are behind him

Do not want

[batterybro42]

KD and that foot injury no thanks

People don't see that injury for what it is, a potential career ender

His best days are behind him

Do not want

[QUIZ]

KD in that foot injury no thanks

People don't see that injury for what it is, a potential career ender

His best days are behind him

Do not want

Well we don't have a shot at him anyway so it doesn't matter. With that said we have to give him the benefit of the doubt. The foot injury is worrisome but lets not jump the gun. He's put up 25 4 and 6 this year with a bad foot I think he'll be ok.

[Shewasfly]

Don't care about LeBron and I hope Riley never mentions him again. The best thing about this interview is that he confirmed that we will get back on top our way, the Heat way, and not through tanking and the draft.

[DWadeno3]

I know our team would have been generational, cause Pat would have moved around more pieces, but the mentality and competitive edge was really dwindling. It was best for everyone to move on honestly. The bad habits just piled up. They were starting to feel too comfortable, too good about themselves. It also started with the maintainence program with Wade. Never knowing when he will play, and thinking don't worry it's only the playoffs that matter anyway... Only for him to be winded and still hurt in the finals.

Of course I would have liked to keep them together but idk, something was off last year. Even in game 2 when we won. It's why we struggled this year even. We were so use to showing up and winning and just didn't know what to do to get out of that funk, then the injuries piled up...

I like where this team is going offensively. Just need Dragic to handle the ball moving forward, he simply has a high motor compared to Wade these days, but that's next year. Wade can still score but his old bones take awhile to get going, Dragic wants to get him easy buckets. Bosh and Dragic will be a good duo, and people fearing Wade still who is a willing passer. It's going to be fun

The maintenance program for Wade would've obviously not continued since it was a failure. We tried it and it didn't deliver the effect we hoped it would. That was not the problem though, it was one of the many excuses for the bad habits everybody had developed. As you said, the entire team was too comfortable and lost its competitive edge. Wade was too comfortable being the 2nd/3rd option (and also focused too much on his knee problems), the same goes for Bosh, LeBron had the championship monkey off of his back and had his mind in Cleveland already, while also starting to care more about his personal glory than the team's success and the role players were mostly veterans who had now gotten what they wanted, a title.

I also don't know where this demand for Dragic to be the main ball handler has come from. Wade is still our biggest gun and with that our largest threat on the ball. The only reason I want Dragic to be on the ball more is to get Wade some easy baskets, because with Bosh out, we'll need Wade to score. Other than that, let them share the ball handling duties and most importantly, make sure one of them is always on the court. We sorely lacked a good second playmaker, so we need to distribute their minutes in order to maintain a good offense.

Nevertheless, I believe Wade/Dragic will be a very good duo going forward. I've long been a fan of Dragic. When him and Roko Ukic participated in Summer League around the same time and both were highly rated European guards, I always thought Dragic had something special in him. Both are very good off the ball, both have already started reading each other very well, they're lethal in the fast-break and if one of them runs a pick and roll, they're both so dangerous that the other will receive an open driving lane or an open shot because the defense has to invest three guys into covering their pick and roll.

[3ballbomber]

Well, let's not forget that LeBron James will become a free agent next season, if he chooses to go on that road. Pat Riley has started the recruiting process. There are also rumors of Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City looking for a sign-and-trade agreement. I firmly believe that those rumors will become a reality. After gathering Gragic, Wade, Bosh and Whiteside, Miami has to be among the three best destinations to acquire the services of Durant. Honestly, I do have great expectations for this upcoming season. "NBA teams using internal data are projecting the salary cap to jump to between $88 million and $92 million per team, sources told ESPN." Goran Dragic (16,125,000), Dwyane Wade (16,125,000), Chris Bosh ($23,741,060) and Hassan Whiteside (16,125,000) adds for a total of $72,116,060. Considering that the salary cap will jump to $92 million per team, even a maximun salary of $30 million for some one like Kevin Durant or LeBron James is not out of the question.

lebron? really?


We build it the right way this time....no more super-team bs. We need depth....Solid back up C, Solid back up SG, solid back up PG, 3 pt specialist etc. We strengthen our bench and we take the East.

You and I are basketball fan. We always think about having the best team. The true of the matter is that the Miami Heat is a business. Therefore, their first priority is to sell. And as an NBA franchise if you want to sell, you will need a super star player. I am not a fan of bringing back LeBron James. On the other hand, Kevin Durant would be ideal for the Heat. Let's be real for a moment, those two players (whoever you choose) are a boost to sell all kind of merchandise, tickets and TV ratings. Luol Deng is not the player that Pat Riley had in mind. At the end of the day, you get what you can. But make no mistake, Anthony Davis (I am throwing his name to the list), LeBron James and Kevin Durant are and will be the focus of this franchise or any other franchise in the NBA (at least for a while).

You lost me the first time w/ Lebolt. After the way he treated us/Riley you really think one of our obligations is LeQueen Lames? c'mon now. Besides he's got a good thing going in Cleveland - he won't be leaving there..... for the mean time anyway

[3ballbomber]

"My motivation is I still want to win," Riley said. "And I want to provide for Erik everything I can from what I know to what he's learning. And he's growing past me. He's on to another thing, he's the pulse of analytics and the threes and running and a lot of ball movement and all that stuff. We're right in the process of going through a transformation in how I used to coach and how he wants to play."

some supportive sentiments for Spo there that the fire coach brigade would rather not hear.

[QUIZ]

"My motivation is I still want to win," Riley said. "And I want to provide for Erik everything I can from what I know to what he's learning. And he's growing past me. He's on to another thing, he's the pulse of analytics and the threes and running and a lot of ball movement and all that stuff. We're right in the process of going through a transformation in how I used to coach and how he wants to play."

some supportive sentiments for Spo there that the fire coach brigade would rather not hear.

Anybody who knows Riley and this team know that Spo will never be fired, not as long as Pat and the Arisons are around. They believe in him wholeheartedly.

[dancing2thabeet]

Let's hope he actually coaches next year, then. I know we had a lot of injures and whatnot, but coaching answer to that shouldn't be ISO Wade.

[BIRDMAN BIRDMAN]

I've accepted the fact that Spo is a #HEATLIFER at this point, so brace yourselves for potentially 20+ more seasons of Spo HEAT Nation

[Paz]

If only we can get a Shaq type player that could force Spo to "spend more time with his family".

[dancing2thabeet]

I've accepted the fact that Spo is a #HEATLIFER at this point, so brace yourselves for potentially 20+ more seasons of Spo HEAT Nation

So what you are saying is that Spo could be gone by the time I hit 50? Aww yis

[Dupas]

If only we can get a Shaq type player that could force Spo to "spend more time with his family".

Trade for boogie asap hehe

[Paz]

I dunno man. If Bron couldn't give him the boot, I don't think anyone can.