Let me start by saying I am not a Miami Heat or Pat Riley fan, however as painful as it may be I give props when they are due.

Early this season the Miami Heat looked like crap to put it mildly. After coming within minutes of the NBA Finals last year, Riley decided to revamp his team, to compliment his two stars, Shaq and Wade.

Nevermind the fact that Wade and Shaq were hurting during the ECF last year, Riley saw a need to make changes to compete with the two time EC Champion Detroit Pistons.

So added to the heat were Jason Williams, Gary Payton, James Posey, and Antoine Walker as the important pieces to put Miami over the hump. I for one thought Riley was nuts. I thought last years team was better and he would be fired for this huge blunder.

Well, Miami started the season terrible. They couldn`t beat any of the major contenders, was not a good road team, and looked sloppy and disoriented.

Stan Van Gundy took the fall for the mess Riley put together, and none other than Riles himself took over coaching this mess after the mysterious resignation of Van Gundy.

To make a long story short, the Heat players responded and find themselves in the Finals. I was wrong. This team seems to be much better than last years team. Will they win the Finals? I say no way.

However, If the Heat and Riley pulls this off It may be one of Riley`s greatest accomplishments in his NBA career. To put to gether a team as a GM, then coach it to a NBA Championship. In this day and age it would be quite a feat.

Too bad it will not happen.

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"We are going to be really good offensively and definsively, we are going to be a team that can beat you 120-110, or beat you 80-70" Coach Michael Curry on the 2008-2009 Pistons.

Have to give Riley a lot of credit for getting past the apathetic Pistons and into the Finals. Riley didn't stand Pat for sure. If he takes the HEat past the Mavs in the Finals this will be Riley's greatest coaching job ever.

i will say the trade looks better now, and you can see what he was doing ... antoine walker = richard jefferson, trouble for prince, jason williams can penetrate, chauncey's had trouble stopping that, and posey can play defense when necessary.

If he can manage to make the Finals close, then I will give him props. The Cavs almost beat us after all.

basketbills - I agree.

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

Very mature of you to say this. Just because you give the Heat credit for their win doesn't mean you aren't a Pistons fan.

Actually, I'm not giving Miami credit. This is the first good coaching job Riley has done in 18 years. And even then, he had a loaded roster in a weak Western Conference.

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

He was also the GM this season. Therefore, this accomplishment goes beyond just coaching. He built this team in the way he felt it could be successful, then he COACHED IT.

Please don`t think I am a Heat fan...........

Because I`m not!!!!

You are right. This is also one of the best GM jobs Pat has done since he was with the Lakers. I'm pretty sure he had authority over personnel in NY and Miami (previous).

Good on Pat. He's managed to get 'Fatoine, ProZo, the mitten and "You ain't writin' nuttin' homeboy" to the NBA Finals.

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

The move for Antione was a risk or reward. Either he'd be the Antione we all know and ruin everything or he'd cause Tay to defend him instead of Wade which causes Rip to get in foul trouble and lose energy. Antione was lucky i believe though, and so were the Heat. We would have won if we took care of buisness with the Cavs, but thats our fault and we better learn from it.