Pat Riley Team Quotations

The team itself was hung over from last night, and very disappointed by it.

Any team can be a miracle team. The catch is that you have got to go out and work for your miracles. Effort is what ultimately separates great teams from ordinary teams.

Complacency is the last hurdle standing between any team and its potential greatness.

Basketball is a game of conditioning and fatigue. That's why I believe in practicing a team to train when it's exhausted.

In all the research you do as a coach, studying other coaches and championship-type situations, you find that all those teams combined talent with great defense. You've got to stop other teams to win.

When a milestone is conquered, the subtle erosion called entitlement begins its consuming grind. The team regards its greatness as a trait and a right. Half hearted effort becomes habit and saps a champion.

Coaches who let a championship team back off from becoming a dynasty are cowards.

Teamwork requires that everyone's efforts flow in a single direction. Feelings of significance happen when a team's energy takes on a life of its own.

There can only be one state of mind as you approach any profound test; total concentration, a spirit of togetherness, and strength.

Great teamwork is the only way we create the breakthroughs that define our careers.

Great players and great teams want to be driven. They want to be pushed to the edge. They don't want to be cheated. Ordinary players and average teams want it to be easy

Being a part of success is more important than being personally indispensable.

A particular shot or way of moving the ball can be a player's personal signature, but efficiency of performance is what wins the game for the team.

When a gifted team dedicates itself to unselfish trust and combines instinct with boldness and effort, its ready to climb.

When a great team loses through complacency, it will constantly search for new and more intricate explanations to explain away defeat.

Commitment to the team - there is no such thing as in-between, you are either in our out.

Management must speak with one voice. When it doesn't management itself becomes a peripheral opponent to the team's mission.

The most DIFFICULT thing for individuals to do when they become part of a team is to sacrifice, it is much EASIER to be selfish.

There's a real heaviness to our team and I feel it. I'm trying to lighten it up. Because there are so many distractions and so many things going on, it's heavy and it wears on guys. We don't want this. We want to win. We are winning, but we're not winning at the rate people want us to win.

It was an absolute eye-opener. I've seen a lot of great quarters. I don't think I've ever seen one exactly like that where a team hits nine 3s (actually eight). We didn't play well, we didn't play with great desire and we got our heads handed to us for the second game in a row.

Shaq is in shape. He's back in 26 games. We've been together 46 games. Enough talk about learning each other and coming together. It's time to put up and play, and play against the best teams in the league, especially at home.

We came in here and that team just took it to us and took it away from us. It was an abysmal night.

They are a perimeter team that shoots the ball well, that if you're not covering and taking away their air space then someone's going to get you somewhere.

Teams are going to start getting nastier, more competitive and they want it, and they're going to get ready for playoffs. And when they happens you just have to walk away from it and you have to play at a higher level.

It was the kind of game I predicted. I told the team this morning that this is how we would have to play to win.

It was a barn burner, two teams that just shot the ball well. Both teams were very aggressive.

I think they have great respect for New Jersey. They are a very effective team right now and they're developing a lot of confidence.

He's very methodical. He took in the film today and saw what teams (do). He knows what they do. He's so good that he can get through defenses and creases and cracks. He slowed it down a little tonight. He really took a look at the defense.

We don't have an answer for that team and right now, we don't have a defensive game for it. I think you have to play against them probably four, five, six times to realize exactly what it is that you need to do to try to stop them.

It's time for this team to be what I think they can be, what they think they can be what they're capable of being. There is no reason why we can't, if we focus defensively, share the ball and run and attack, that we can't take it to another level at this stage of the season.

It's time for this team to be what I think they can be... what they're capable of being. There's no reason why we can't take it to another level at this stage of the season. You have to take responsibility for who you think you are.

This is an entirely different basketball team than I've ever coached. The personalities are different. There's a lot of great things. There's a lot of things that have to be purged. It's just a whole different view. There's a lot of good parts, so it's going to take some time to figure it all out.

The key to teamwork is to learn a role, accept a role, and strive to become excellent playing it.

They came out, really wanted to make a statement, jumped on the team defensively. We had a lot of energy to start the game.

They are one of, if not the best, effort teams in the league. We were very fortunate to win the game. We had to play that kind of game, defense-oriented and tough.

I have complete faith. That's how I operate, that's how I coach. I truly believe that when all the parts are healthy, I know how good we are. I've said it over and over again and I will continue to say it, I just think this team can do something special. And that's the way I'll keep thinking.

I have complete faith. That's how I operate, that's how I coach. I had complete faith when we were 25 and whatever (in 2002-03), and I do now. I truly believe that when all the parts are healthy, I know how good we are. I've said it over and over again and I will continue to say it, I just think this team can do something special.

You can't worry about it. You are going to see it. They have got to deal with teams that are committed to shutting them down. You have got to get stronger against it.

I give all the credit to Brian Hill for keeping that team together.

Those two best teams probably should be in this game. But that's not the way it is.

We thought we were going to win. We can play with anyone when we're really in it and focused mentally on what we have to take away from a team like that.

I was concerned a little bit. We know the NBA when you have a big win on national television. I've seen a half-dozen teams this year have those kinds of wins and the next day get beat by anybody. You just sort of let down. It's natural. We really tried to guard against that.

I love to see when teams let him catch it and then double-team him. I know we're going to get all kinds of good shots.

We just had a great first quarter. I mean, it was just incredible. I don't think I've ever seen this team play like that.

This is about an experienced, savvy, talented team which I believe we have taking advantage of the opportunities out there. But one thing they cannot neglect is just how hard (Chicago) is going to play and the kind of effort they're going to have to make to stay with them.

We're supposed to be one of the top teams in the league. We've assembled some of the top talent in the league. This team needs to understand that when we come to another team's arena, that it is a big event. We came in here and the Hornets took it from us.

I know Chicago's got a lot riding on this game, but I've always taken the position that at the end of the season, it's not our responsibility to take care of other peoples' destiny. I've got to get my team ready for the playoffs. I've got to rest certain guys, I've got to get other guys time and at the same time, still make it a game.

We had a lot of shots around the basket that didn't go in. I thought we got frustrated by not getting the calls that we thought we should have got, which leads to complaining to the officials. ... There's got to be a lot more mental toughness against a team like this.

What we've noticed a little bit about Chauncey and what Flip has done with this team, he has injected a sense of energy into his team early. Chauncey is no longer just a late-game (shooter). Throughout the course of the game, you've got to be very aware of him, and obviously at the end of the game you've got to deal with him and what's he doing.

They're flying. They're sixth in the league in scoring. That wasn't the way they were last year. And they don't let you stay close anymore. You used to be able to stay close to them occasionally but sometimes now they get out there and run. They're a different team this year, but their defense hasn't suffered.

I think every team has a prodigal son, probably. What he's given to the city as much as what he's given to the team, the fans, has been extraordinary.

If we had come back with the same team as last year, it would have been a disaster. We didn't have the firepower to sustain what we needed in this conference. Last year was a honeymoon year. A couple players had career years. I didn't believe we had the core of players like the core we have now. We have a lot more versatility now.

If we had brought back the exact same group we had last year, I think the results would be good, but we needed more talent, ... We built the team around Shaquille that's a now team. We want to get it done as quick as we can. This is by far the best team that I've been around since the ones that I coached in Los Angeles.

You can't be happy with the whole disposition of our team in the second half, playing with a 20-point lead and not defending at all. We showed very little respect for all the hard work and good play. I'm happy we were able to win it at the end, but obviously we can't play like that.

They were a step ahead of us because of their effort and their energy and their absolute desperation to make the playoffs. When you get a team with that frame of mind, they are going to be a step ahead of you.

They were on fire tonight. This is one of the best shooting teams in the league. Tonight, they showed it.