For the first time 10 months, Miami Heat President Pat Riley addressed his team’s status in a formal setting when he held a media session Saturday at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Speaking at the team’s practice facility, Riley touched on several topics in the wake of the just-completed 39-43 season that left the Heat out of the NBA playoffs for the third time in five years.
— On this past season’s team, “It was a some-of-the-time team and sometimes it was a none-of-the-time team.”
— Of his personal thoughts, “I’m disappointed in myself, obviously. This has not come together the way I thought it would.”
— The Heat finished 10th in the Eastern Conference, “This year, I thought for sure we could be to half of the Eastern Conference, fourth, fifth.”
— Of going forward, “Whether you believe it or not, we’re right at the launching pad right now.”
— Of that optimism, “It took us a couple of years to pay back our debts, our student-debt loans.”
— Of closing out of the playoffs, “This was very disappointing. The coaching staff did all they could.”
— On how he next will proceed, “We have done it in a myriad of different ways to build this team.”
— On Erik Spoelstra’s Friday comments, “I think he’s right on about everything that he talked about.”
— Of what’s next, he pointed to the draft, “We’ve got a one-percent chance of getting the top pick . . . or we can go to 14.”
— He said as long as there are shamrocks, there is hope.
— “I’m an Irish guy. I sling Shamrocks around all the time.”
— On Hassan Whiteside getting more time, “I think we’ll have a discussion on that. We already have.”
— He added that defensive rules have made it tough to play multiple big men.
— Of Heat’s culture, Riley said it hasn’t gone anywhere, “All of that never has change.”‘
— But he added there are times, “Sometimes you have to tighten some screws.”
— Of that, he said, “There will be changes next year.”
— On whether there could be changes, “There are difficult decisions you have to make a times.”
— He raised his voice when mentioning the Heat’s losing home record, “How we lost games at home, at times, really upset me.”
— He then mentioned the home games were big leads turned into close losses.
— He said he personally would be getting to work, “I have some big picture ideas already written down. Andy [Elisburg], the team’s general manager] and I will decide whether they’re worse chasing or not.”
— Of Dwyane Wade’s triumphant career-closing tour, he acknowledged, “It muted the emotional disappointment.”
— Of possibly dropping to the bottom, “It’s hard to really finish in the bottom five.”
— Asked if it might be time for that again, he said, “no.”
— “There aren’t any obstacles,” he said of what the Heat can accomplish. “I’m telling you, we have done this since 1995.”
— He said two-way players Duncan Robinson and Yante Maten deserved “A” grades for their performances in the G League.
— “We think that both of them can develop . . . and you don’t know how far they can go,” he said.
iwinderman@sunsentinel.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.winderman
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