Miami Heat president Pat Riley sees team headed in right direction
Miami Heat team president Pat Riley already considers this season a success regardless of when it resumes and the outcome in the playoffs.
Riley, speaking on a video posted on the team website, said there hasn't been much to complain about during the turnaround. A year after missing the postseason, the Heat held the No. 4 spot in the Eastern Conference standings before play was halted March 11 because of the coronavirus situation.
"We had a very, very good basketball team, very well coached," Riley said. "And I think we proved it on the court, night in and night out. We overcame some adversity, some injuries. When that happened, next man up."
Riley said he felt the organization made the necessary adjustments in order to reach another level when they traded for Andre Iguodala, Solomon Hill and Jae Crowder. Their additions and the growth of young players Bam Adebayo, Kendrick Nunn, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and Derrick Jones Jr. give more reason to look toward the future.
"It was a great year," Riley said. "I'm really disappointed that we haven't seen the finish, especially after we made the trade ... I thought that was going to give us a bit of an edge going into the playoffs. For all intents and purposes, I'm so happy that we turned a lot of things around and we found the right players, the right mix of pick-and-roll players ... We are very optimistic about moving forward into the future with these players."
FACEBOOK: Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MiamiHeatSI
TWITTER: @ShandelRich
