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Pat Riley: Erik Spoelstra Will Still Coach Heat
Pat Riley Discusses the Future of the Miami Heat
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Among his assertions was the claim that this new Heat lineup will be a title-contender for years to come.
"I can say this," said Riley, "we will be a multiple championship-contending team. This was a great year. It was a disappointing ending."
Riley's main message during the Q&A session was about the team maintaining a continuity around the Big Three of Miami - Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James.
Riley says that he told James to take "a hard look at the film" to evaluate his very criticized performance during the Finals, which the Heat lost 4-2 to the Dallas Mavericks.
"You don't have an easy answer for that right now," said Riley. "It's wrong to lay it all on him."
For Bosh, Riley would like to see him work on his conditioning and get stronger.
For Wade, Riley says that maintaining his health and consistency should be his priorities as he approaches 30. He is currently 29.
Riley also admitted that the team might have gotten ahead of itself or taken the wrong approach to certain things.
"Did we make mistakes along the way? Yes," said Riley. "Would they (Bosh, James and Wade) like to take back some of the words? Yes."
But Riley has hope for the future of the Heat.
"I know what everybody expected here, but it didn't happen," said Riley, referring to the team's failure to win the Finals. "We are good enough. We have enough. We will do all the things we need to do to get better."
Finally, Riley dismissed rumors that he is going to return as the coach of the team.
"No, I'm not going to," said Riley. "It doesn't mean that I don't have the fire. But we've got a great young coach here, and I want to support him. And hopefully, he can grow like I did. We'll bring Erik back, definitely."
(Sources: ESPN.com)
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