Riley steps down as Heat coach

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

Haha, OK Jsarno, Riley turned around the 80's Lakers, lol. Even though they had already won a championship two years before Riley became coach and had arguably the greatest roster in the history of the sport. That's not to say Riley wasn't the right guy for that job - obviously he got it done - but there's a difference between turning a team around and stepping in to take over a team loaded with talent.

You're right...I used the wrong term there. He didn't turn around the team...but he did lead one of the best dynasties in the history of any sport.

When he resurfaced with the Knicks it was a similar story. He took over the team that probably had more talent than any other in the league and the best center of his generation, however this time he wasn't able to get it done in the playoffs. His decision to encourage Starks to keep shooting in the 94 Finals lingers as one of the all time playoff coaching bungles, imo.

I completely disagree here. The Knicks had averaged only 35 wins in the 7 seasons before Riley showed up. The 4 years he was there they averaged 55.75 wins a season. That's a huge turn around!
Also, Starks averaged 19 points a game in the regular season and was an all-star, only Ewing averaged more, and Oakley was 3rd with 11.8. They NEEDED starks to shoot. Shooters are meant to shoot. That's just the way it is. It burnt the Knicks, but in no way is that even remotely a poor coaching choice.

With the Knicks roster aging Riley bolted for Miami amidst controversy. Same story, current team aging, new opportunity with a talented team with a dominant center, Riley says peace.

There had been talk about him loving Miami for years and could easily move over there. New York is a crappy place to coach, even when you do well, you're on the hot seat. He made the wise choice. Regardless of how you look at it, why does it matter if he leaves when the talent goes away? He rode them to the end of the road...can't fault him for that. You need to enjoy the ride. Look at Gibbs...he left us the first time around when all the talent was OLD. Come to think of it, he did it the 2nd time around too.

Heat don't win the big one, Zo gets sick, rosters gutted, Riley's gone..then we get to the Van Gundy episode, in which I'm not sure you realize Van Gundy wasn't fired. He was pushed out amidst strange circumstances, in my unsubstantiated opinion, by a guy who smelled a championship close.

Stan Van Gundy was not playing the team to it's full potential...thus the 11-10 record. It was the smart choice.

Look, Riley belongs in any top 10 discussion of all time great coaches, but he has a record of leaving teams as soon as things get tough which is not admirable. Most egregious was taking time off to scout this year when the team was tanking, which Smoot mentioned. For these reasons he'll always be a jerk to me, championships or not. At least Phil came back to coach the Lakers during a transitional phase for them.

I won't argue that's he a jerk...I don't like him at all. I just don't see why you want to begrudge someone for not wanting to go through a rebuilding phase.