Pat Riley held a press conference today to address a variety of questions about the Miami Heat as they head into what will be a very busy off-season. We have the details.
It was reported during the NBA Finals the Heat were exploring the option of bringing Carmelo Anthony to Miami to form a “Big Four.” Riley addressed the talk of adding a fourth superstar. He didn’t necessarily shoot it down. Here’s Bleacher Report’s Ethan J. Skolnick with some quotes from this afternoon’s Riley press conference:
Riley calls the talk about a 4th star "a pipedream," …. "but everybody thought 2010 was a pipedream."
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) June 19, 2014
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In the Big Three era, the Heat have played 87 playoff games in four seasons. They’ve essentially played an extra season, and that’s before we take into the account the spotlight this team has been under since the arrival of LeBron James. This is in stark contrast to the team they just lost to in the Finals. The Spurs didn’t have a single player who averaged more than 30 minutes this season. Riley was not about to make excuses for his team:
Riley says most players talked about being "mentally fatigued." …. "I don't accept it."
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) June 19, 2014
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The topics of Dwyane Wade‘s decline and what Erik Spolestra has to do in order to improve as a coach were also addressed:
Riley said "we'd have to get in a room with boxing gloves" to discuss with Wade the possibility of being a 6th Man. Not having convo now.
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) June 19, 2014
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Riley says Spoelstra, like everyone "needs to take stock."….. "He's got somebody to talk to who knows something about coaching."
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) June 19, 2014
As for the biggest question this off-season surrounding LeBron’s future, Riley is going to give his players some time off before he discusses future plans with them. He is, however, confident in the relationship he’s built with LeBron in the last four seasons:
Riley says he's going to leave his players alone for 10 days.
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) June 19, 2014
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Riley refers to relationship with LeBron as a "texting relationship…. a short meeting in the hallway" relationship. "He knows I love him."
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) June 19, 2014
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It was a very candid interview from Riley. There’s a busy summer ahead, but he seems confident the Heat will be able to not only retain the Big Three, but make the necessary improvements either through free agency, or internally, to win the title again.
What do you think?
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