Pat Riley

[HeatFanSince87]

What's up guys? Congrats on a great season...


Today I got to thinking since it was our last game of our horrible season and just starting thinking about Riley and how much he has meant to this franchise(13 of our 20 years he has been a part of), and how much respect for him. He has been here so long it's amazing how it some times slips my mind how long and what he accomolished in LA.


My question is, and I don't hear the opinion from LA fans much, what is it? What are your feelings on Riley and what he meant to the Lakers..

[iamworthy]

What's up guys? Congrats on a great season...


Today I got to thinking since it was our last game of our horrible season and just starting thinking about Riley and how much he has meant to this franchise(13 of our 20 years he has been a part of), and how much respect for him. He has been here so long it's amazing how it some times slips my mind how long and what he accomolished in LA.


My question is, and I don't hear the opinion from LA fans much, what is it? What are your feelings on Riley and what he meant to the Lakers..

I was a kinda young in the 80's but to my understanding the lakers would have won alot more championships if it werent for him. He made the the team work way to hard in practice during the playoffs and in the end players got hurt. In that regards he's a idiot. But Im sure some of the OG, Triple OG fellas on this site can tell you if what I heard is accurate.

[HeatFanSince87]

He had that rep here for awhile as well. It was known certain players would not come here because of that...

But as a pathetic expaninsion team, Riley's arrival meant so much to us as a franchise...but he did have a sick team in those 80's Lakers

[salmahayek]

Riles will probably always be my favorite coach.

What a lot of people don't know is how instrumental Riley was in assisting with personnel in the '80s.

Buss and West were ready to pull the trigger on a Worthy for Tarpley and Aguirre deal after the Lakers lost to Houston in '86. It was thought that Showtime was over and the Lakers needed to get bigger to compete with the Twin Towers.

However, Riley pleaded to keep Worthy and make Magic the focus as opposed to Kareem (Kareem was still a very key player). All that happened was Showtime going to another gear with Magic becoming an MVP in '87 and Worthy being Finals MVP in '88 as the Lakers became the first team to repeat in 19 years.

[Sedale Threatt]

-= original quote snipped =-
I was a kinda young in the 80's but to my understanding the lakers would have won alot more championships if it werent for him. He made the the team work way to hard in practice during the playoffs and in the end players got hurt. In that regards he's a idiot. But Im sure some of the OG, Triple OG fellas on this site can tell you if what I heard is accurate.

I don't agree with that. He drove the team exceedingly hard, and towards the end it was clear that he'd worn out his welcome. The message simply wasn't getting through anymore. But to say the Lakers would have won "a lot more championships" without him is, in my hand, simply not true.

Indeed, I think it was the exact opposite. I give him major credit for our championship in '88. That team simply refused to quit, which is a direct result of the attitude instilled by Pat. Rather than let the team rest on its laurels after winning the previous year, he immediately challenged them, and the players responded. That's great coaching.

The bottom line is, he's won everywhere he's ever been, and he's entirely deserving of his induction into the Hall of Fame.

[LLcoleJ]

What's up guys? Congrats on a great season...


Today I got to thinking since it was our last game of our horrible season and just starting thinking about Riley and how much he has meant to this franchise(13 of our 20 years he has been a part of), and how much respect for him. He has been here so long it's amazing how it some times slips my mind how long and what he accomolished in LA.


My question is, and I don't hear the opinion from LA fans much, what is it? What are your feelings on Riley and what he meant to the Lakers..

I was Pat Riley for halloween when I was around 10 or 11. Early 80's. I rocked the suit and had long hair that I slicked back.

[RJM]

Riley was a god here in LA. He always will be for the rest of his life. We love and appreciate his efforts in helping us own the 1980s.

PS - If I were you, I'd make a minor? trade to get another first rounder to snatch up Roy Hibbert. You guys desperately need a competent big man. Just some advice.

[HeatFanSince87]

Interesting...


On a side note pretty crazy we had two Laker Legends take your franchise to the top(granted much more)do the same for us..

[HeatFanSince87]

I agree..but you mean in addition to our hopefully top 2 pick?

[LLcoleJ]

-= original quote snipped =-



I was a kinda young in the 80's but to my understanding the lakers would have won alot more championships if it werent for him. He made the the team work way to hard in practice during the playoffs and in the end players got hurt. In that regards he's a idiot. But Im sure some of the OG, Triple OG fellas on this site can tell you if what I heard is accurate.

Yeah, I call inacuracy on that. That is more hindsight history. Riles mos. def demanded alot out of his players, but as a coach and on such a high level you would be an idiot not too.
The Lakers didnt have it easy when they got to the finals either.. Sixers, Celts and Pistons were all fierce teams that beat us, but we beat them too.

That was a strong decade of really good teams and the Lakers overall were the best of the bunch.

[Sedale Threatt]

The competition back then was absolutely ridiculous. Every one of those teams had multiple Hall of Famers and four to five All-Star caliber players. Then you had squads like Dallas, starting Perkins, Aguirre, Blackmon and Harper with Roy Tarpley off the bench, that couldn't even get to the Finals.

[HeatFanSince87]

You're not kidding....the NBA wasnt as watered down. I mean, since 88 the NBA has added 7 teams, that's like over 100 players that back then would be spread out over the rest of the NBA. For fun..LOL..from the 7 new teams take their better players Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turk, Chris Paul, Wade, Shawn Marion, Al Jefferson, Cory Brewer, Mike Conelly, Mike Miller, Chris Bosh, Tyson Chandler, Peja, David West, Zo, Okfur, Gerald Wallace, Randy Foye, Tj Ford, Carlos Navvaro, that spainish guy from the raps, etc...list goes on and disperse that over the other 23 teams and things get MUCH tougher..

[RJM]

I agree..but you mean in addition to our hopefully top 2 pick?

Oh yeah no doubt! I was actually doing some thinking and I realized that after some moves..this could be your lineup next year.

PG - Chris Duhon - Marcus Banks - Chris Quinn
SG - Dwayne Wade - Kasib Powell - Daequan Cook
SF - Shawn Marion - Bobby Jones - (Draft Pick/FA)
PF - Michael Beasley - Udonis Haslem - Alexander Johnson
C - Roy Hibbert - Alonzo Mourning - Joel Anthony

I want you guys to actually be competitive when we beat you.

[LADUANE]

Pat Riley was Showtime. If it was not for him. Lakers might not have won what they won. He fit right into the theme of what they wanted. Big time coach for a big time star in Magic, Kareem, Worthy. He was part of the over all equation.