Pat Riley Time Quotations

If we're going to make any kind of move, this is the time to do it.

Last year we understood and found out exactly how lethal injuries at the wrong time can be, so I think we protected ourselves a little bit there. As a matter of fact, I think we protected ourselves big-time in that capacity if we lose a perimeter guy.

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.

He's got to be out there on the floor, consistently. Every time he's not, it takes him out of his rhythm. He's got to be more diligent - and we've got to be more diligent - as to the kind of fouls he takes.

My mother always used to say, and she told me time and again this week, 'Life goes on, so get on with it. She couldn't stop saying that to her children. That's who she was. And we're getting on with it.

I thought it was the first time Shaquille, in a couple of weeks, really has been running to the rim. We have to get back to that game.

I think we know what we're doing. Coming into the gym every single day and getting a sweat, when you get to this time of the year, you get into really good shape. I don't know if the body needs to sweat every 24 hours or, if at least, it should.

We don't have time to reinvent the wheel.

We didn't bring him here on a gurney. This is not a quick trip to South Beach. He still has the ability to make some big plays, and at the same time he did a great job defending Kobe.

That's two games in a row that we showed, at a time when we need to show it, a real lockdown mentality defensively. It's not surprising to me if they're committed on doing it. They've done it off and on. Not consistent. It's when the mood strikes them.

That was a game situation. He's supposed to be on the court, but I had a hard time taking anybody off the court at that time, because we were down and then we went ahead by eight. As a coach, you're going to ride that lineup as long as you can.

That was the first time I ever called an open isolation against a 2-3 zone. He's a remarkable player and I'm glad to have him on my team.

That was the first time I've seen Gary play like Gary in a long time.

When is it going to start? That's the question I posed to them tonight. When are we going to start beating quality teams? It's time to put up or shut up. That's how I look at it.

We kept coming back, coming back. And every time we came out of a huddle, they sort of regained their composure again.

The worst thing that can happen is that if you let your mind go for seven days. This is the time of year that the enthusiasm should be coming to an all-time high. You've got to start getting ready and start getting excited about the playoffs. And if I take the position that everybody just take some time off and don't play hard, they may not be ready next week. It's a fine line.

Every time we see this team, and we'll see it again this week, the zone, while it doesn't bother us, it gets us out of sync. We did not play with much energy in the first four of five minutes of the game and then once we started to play with energy and got down the floor quicker things began to open up for us.

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.

If you recall, the last time we shut him down, he had a good run of games. I think that's what we need to do in light of not having him at all.

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.

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.

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.

It wasn't about that other trivial stuff. This was a story about the Texas Western players, what they had to overcome. I was there, and there were a whole lot of things I didn't know when I saw the movie. The first time I ever saw them play was at the Final Four. There was no ESPN or anything like that in those days. You know that they're going to put some theatrical stuff in there. But I think it should be mandatory for kids today to watch it.

Any time he gets in foul trouble and sits down, that sets him back and sets us back. You have to try to keep him on the floor for normal minutes. But when he gets that third and fourth foul, we get out of rhythm.

It is time for us to take advantage of however much time we've spent together.

That's one of the better, more complete games that we've played in a long time. It's the first time that Shaq, in a couple of weeks, has been running to the rim and we got him early in transition and that's what it was. We have to get back to that game.

They played an absolutely great game. They did what they had to do defensively. It didn't help us that Shaquille got in foul trouble. Any time he gets in foul trouble and has to sit down, it sets us and him back.

We had to buckle down, and I thought in the second half, especially in winning time that period in the fourth quarter when we had to make stops, we made some tough spots.

We just had a hard time guarding the ball on the dribble.

This is the time of year the enthusiasm should be coming to an all-time high.