Truth & Rumors > NBA

Riley regrets Knicks moves

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During a weekend in which Pat Riley was celebrated for induction into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, he took a moment or two to discuss the few regrets or mistakes he's made along the way. Actually, he doesn't consider them regrets. Just professional lessons he tried to learn from along the way. Not surprisingly, most of those mulligans he would have taken came during his four-year stint with the New York Knicks in the early 1990s. Riley said if he had instilled a little more finesse (some of the Showtime Lakers mojo) in those rough-and-tough Knicks teams, Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason and company would have won an NBA title. Instead, they settled for a runner-up finish in a 1994 Finals loss to the Rockets. Another thing Riley would have done differently would have been actually living in New York instead of maintaining a home in Connecticut. That may have contributed to some of the burnout.

Miami Herald

Pat Riley, AP Pat Riley, AP
September 8, 2008  07:01 AM ET

What could have been???? I guess when you get old you look back... a non story.

September 8, 2008  07:53 AM ET

I hated those Knicks teams and thought Riley degraded basketball by coaching that rough, beat-em-up style of play. And to think the NBA allowed it. I always thought it was the only way the game could offset the athletic domination of the Jordan/Pippen Bulls at the time---knock them out of the air. This was NOT basketball. Riley and the NBA disgraced basketball during those years.

September 8, 2008  08:07 AM ET

I guess he learned the hard way by actually going through the process. Their defense was not bad but the offense was kinda soft. They relied to much on defense when they should have used their offense to take it to the other team. There were too many outside shots from the guards and fadeaway jumpers from Ewing and the rest of the forwards. If they would have powered it in more and penetraded then they would have won a championship. And to compalin about the burnout is a non story that he should have not brought out. He is still coaching isn't he? Is he trying to make an excuse again for quiting the Heat? Just another proof that he came back coaching just to put another ring in his finger.

September 8, 2008  09:17 AM ET

No Pat. That kind of basketball is what made the Knicks exciting again. I loved watching that kind of b-ball and he shouldn't have any regrets about using that style.

He came within one bad night by John Starks from winning a title. Can't blame himself, really.

September 8, 2008  09:28 AM ET

Starks went 2 for 18 in Game 7 in a game that the Knicks only lost by four. The final score of that Game 7 back in 1994 was 94 to 90. Gosh forbid, Starks hits about 2 or 3 more shots the Knicks win that Game, the Title and Riley wouldn't have those regrets.

September 8, 2008  09:45 AM ET

DAMN! When did Pat become a mobster....That pic looks like he just shot his way to the head of 'THE FAMILY'.....

September 8, 2008  10:06 AM ET

He came within one bad night by John Starks from winning a title. Can't blame himself, really.

J. HOVA: BROOKLYN'S OWN | 09/08/08, 09:17 AM
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True...and Dream taking out Ewing.

September 8, 2008  10:06 AM ET

I guess he's been hanging out with the "retired" members down in South Florida.

September 8, 2008  10:06 AM ET

Good point Milk Man. Hakeem did phase out Ewing well in that series.

September 8, 2008  11:01 AM ET

Yeah- and remember......
other than getting a few decent players (all basically out of their primes)
it was basically Ewing + starks (who was good- but not a superstar) + garbage
for 15 years....it was a testament to how good Ewing really was.

September 8, 2008  11:07 AM ET

Good point jgb.

Rolando Blackmon, Xavier McDaniel, Charles Smith, Derek Harper, Greg Anthony, Anthony Mason and etc...weren't exactly all-stars. They were either past their prime or players that no other coach wanted and Riley made them the Beasts of The East for a few years there.

He really shouldn't have regrets with that team.

September 8, 2008  11:08 AM ET

I agree. Starks took over that game and just plain and simple lost it....I do think after the seventh miss the coaches should have managed it better.

September 8, 2008  11:09 AM ET

Although I always repped for the Lakers, I will never forgive Charles Smith for missing all those shots against the Bulls in 1993.

For a 6 foot 11 man, to go up to the hoop four times in the last few seconds and not have powered his way in for a dunk was the most disgusting display of ball I ever seen.

September 8, 2008  11:10 AM ET

I agree. Starks took over that game and just plain and simple lost it....I do think after the seventh miss the coaches should have managed it better.
drj0514 | 09/08/08, 11:08 AM


I always wondered why Riley didn't pull the plug on Starks that night, because he never did try to give up the ball or allow Harper a role in the offense to either take his shot or force the ball into Ewing. He just went ball-hog that night and even though they lost by four, if he either hit a few more shots or took a couple shots less, the Knicks would have had the Title.

September 8, 2008  11:18 AM ET

Regrets with the Knicks, thats too bad. You think there would be more for them poor heat transactions he OK'd. Or running out Shaq, or signing antoine walker or jason williams.

September 8, 2008  12:04 PM ET

The mistakes he made in New York pale in comparison to the mess he's made in Miami. Maybe in another 15 years he will see the mistakes he's made with the Heat. At this point he doesn't appear to have learned a damn thing.

September 8, 2008  12:44 PM ET

Seriously...who would have yanked their second best player in a close game 7 of the NBA Finals? That's an easy call to make in retrospect. You think Phil Jackson would have yanked Pippen even if he was that cold? Pippen was a much better player and would've stopped firing away but that's not the point.

Hllywd. What's up with the Riley rants? It'll turn in to an FBI file one of these days :o)

September 8, 2008  01:21 PM ET

Hllywd. What's up with the Riley rants? It'll turn in to an FBI file one of these days :o)
Milk man | 09/08/08, 12:44 PM

I'm just telling it like it is. I'm a Heat fan that isn't drinking the Kool-Aid. I couldn't care less about his accomplishments in LA 20 years ago.

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September 8, 2008  01:43 PM ET

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