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Pat Riley begins second stint with the Heat
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-14 08:57
CHICAGO - Back at his old job, Pat Riley huddled with his assistant coaches
at midcourt near the end of Tuesday's shootaround. Then, he promised, "I'm not
going to try to reinvent the wheel."
But he will try to revive a
struggling Miami Heat team that began the season with big ambitions. Riley, the
team president, installed himself as coach after Stan Van Gundy resigned Monday.
He was to make his first appearance on the sideline Tuesday night against the
Chicago Bulls.
"Anytime a change is made in the middle of the season, you're going to be
shocked, especially with Stan Van Gundy," guard Dwyane Wade said at the United
Center. "I've got a tremendous amount of respect for him. To step down the way
he did, what can you say about that? ... We were shocked, but at the same time,
we've got a game today."
The players expressed regret over Van Gundy's departure and hope they can
turn around what so far has been a disappointing season.
"We have a new leader, and we just have to go out and get the job done,"
center Shaquille O'Neal said.
Rumors that Van Gundy's job was in jeopardy started to swirl after Riley
promised to take a more active role in the day-to-day operations following the
team's loss to Detroit in the Eastern Conference finals last spring.
Riley shook up the roster in the offseason, acquiring Antoine Walker, Jason
Williams and James Posey to replace Eddie Jones, Damon Jones and Rasual Butler.
But the Heat started slowly. They were 11-10 heading into Tuesday's game,
although O'Neal had missed 18 of those games with a sprained right ankle.
Still, the Heat and Van Gundy insisted Monday's resignation was just that ��
not a firing. Riley said Monday he tried to persuade Van Gundy to stay. Van
Gundy said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
"I'm still caught up in the emotion of it," Riley said Tuesday. "I've always
been somebody who likes continuity. I don't like a lot of change."
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