Pat Riley Defense Quotations

That was obviously another one of those games. They (Boston Celtics) played extremely well. They were focused and they had a tremendous approach to the game. They executed in the first quarter flawlessly. They did not feel our defense and they did not feel our presence. We were waiting for them to miss and they just didn't.

(Wade) was real efficient against Portland. He was 13-for-19 tonight, 11 assists. When they load up on (Heat center Shaquille O'Neal ), it makes the defense guard him or not guard him. He's such a great pick-and-roll player.

We came out strong, but we couldn't finish it and you've got to give them credit. Their defense was fresh, energized, committed; it was knowing. They knew where we were going to go with the ball, and they took it away. It was tie, tie, tie, and once it got down to four or six points, there was no coming back for us.

They're flying. They're sixth in the league in scoring. That wasn't the way they were last year. And they don't let you stay close anymore. You used to be able to stay close to them occasionally but sometimes now they get out there and run. They're a different team this year, but their defense hasn't suffered.

It's that kind of attitude when we talk about getting better. How do we get better? We get better in the mind. We have a veteran team, they know how to do it. We stay disciplined with our defense and our principles and we make this kind of covenant with each other that we're going to defend.

That's a lot of shots. We key a lot of our defense to him. He didn't have an outrageous night. When you've got a guy that's rising on you and you've got your center, your power forward always out on him, it just wreaks havoc on the boards. James did a good job on him.

That's a lot of shots. Obviously, we keyed our defense to him. James (Posey) did a good job on him.

Their defense was fresh, energized, committed. They knew where we were going to go with the ball and they took it away.

He's methodical. He really took in the film today. He slowed down a little bit tonight. He really took a look at the defense and did a good job.

The first three or four minutes, they fronted him and put a guy behind him. Then they started to play him straight up and straight down. Then they started to double-team him, and he not only scored, but he picked their defense apart.