knickscity wrote:KEEPCAMBYNY wrote:mreinman wrote:CrushAlot wrote:BRIGGS wrote:CrushAlot wrote:Splat wrote:CrushAlot wrote:Splat wrote:Riley is a recruiter. He signs the right players. We've got Phil who gave Lil' Melo the biggest contract in the NBA. Phil is not in Pat's league. So if anybody huffs and puffs about how much of a draw Phil is they better hope his zen mastery translates this off-season, because the vapor surrounding his legend has almost worn off.Riley is probably the best recruiter of all time from what I've seen. That guy is the real Svengali.
Riley signed Bosh to the same deal as Melo and lost the best player of this era to free agency this past offseason. Getting him was brilliant but collusion between players helped a lot and also at least in part lead to the lock out. How does the Dragic deal look if he leaves as a free agent or if Bosh is unable to come back?
Bosh is a better player than Melo. Melo's wear and tear was predictable as hell. Bosh's blood clots were not.
Nobody was retaining Lebron, not Riley, not Jesus, when Lebron had a narrative about "Coming Home" he was was going to follow. That's not on Riley unless you're saying he lacks negotiating skills and he failed to convince Lebron to stay. I think we all know Lebron's script precluded any such outcome.
And you'd take collusion any day of the week if it benefitted your team and the perp didn't get caught.
If Dragic leaves, then that is egg on the face. You don't believe that will happen though. Riley doesn't give that up for a rental.
Why are you enumerating such things anyway? Is there a point?
Riley has been a way above average GM. So far, Phil is wading in the kiddie pool.
Yeah the point is I don't think Riley is as good as you make him out to be. I think he is very good but saying that Bosh holds up and Melo doesn't? How do you know? Both guys are from the same draft class. If you are slamming Phil based on Bosh/Melo what is your point? Riley did the same thing and Riley with Bosh and would have resigned Melo if he was on his team.
Riley has been the best combination coach executive off all time. He's rebuilt the heat three times with 3 championships and 4 finals and coached the Knicks to the finals. The guy finds gems left in the gutter nearly yearly he refurbishes players he's just a huge winner and only popovich is on the same plane. Riley didn't spend his career with Jordan Kobe or Duncan either
Magic, Worthy, Jabbar, wade, Shaq, LBJ, Wade, Bosh... His championship rosters were stocked including guys considered the best players of their era.
How about the knicks team? They were an inch away from winning with no where close to the top talent.
The pre Lebron mimami ring was pretty freakin impressive as well.
Riley choked in the 94 finals. You guys make me sick with this grass is greener on the other side bs. Can Phil get atleast this offseason before you guys do your usual devaluing routine?
Wow, making the finals with only one top tier player is now choking. Damn the Knicks second best player was bagging groceries at one point prior to the NBA.
[Quote]" Twelve years later, Riley feels the same way. He admitted yesterday that he should have done two things differently in what turned out to be his best chance of winning a title in New York. (And, from the way things look, the best chance the Knicks will have had for at least the remainder of the century.) His first error, he says, was leaving Doc Rivers off the playoff roster after he had sustained a leg injury early in the season. "And I should have played Blackman, without a doubt, in the Finals," Riley said. "At the time, Starks in Games 3, 4 and 5 carried us in the second half. And in Game 6 he had this incredible fourth quarter. And in Game 7 . . .
" Riley didn't have to finish the sentence. "I got caught up in the short rotation," he said. "That's why we brought Rolando there. Immediately afterward, I knew. If we had played the two of them, but especially Ro, we would have won the championship. To this day, every time I see Rivers, he's mad at me. He's like . . .
" Riley balled his hand into a fist, as if he wanted to throw a punch. "Rolando has never expressed what he feels about it to me, but he could still play," he said. "And that's the biggest mistake I ever made
Even Riley admits that he choked in that game 7
I bleed orange and blue for life.
