Reverend Riley

I only wrote myself one note about the last game of the NBA Finals on Tuesday (I was disappointed, I really wanted to see a game 7) and it was from the celebration afterward (and I didn't watch too much).

• Revival Riley? What was that all about?

I was completely surprised by it. Pat Riley has always been known to have unique (yeah, we'll stick with that) motivational methods. Maybe this is one of them.

Bill Simmons caught it too. Hopefully one of his readers will explain when it started for all of us:

Does anyone else find it strange that Pat Riley now talks like an evangelist? When did this happen? Every time he held a press conference, I kept expecting them to flash a 1-700 number on the bottom of the screen. And if they had blown Game 6 after he only packed one suit and one tie (brilliant motivational ploy, by the way), would he have worn the same outfit for Game 7? See, these are the questions that sideline reporters should be asking.

He also caught Riley (before I wrote my note, but not by much) talking about giving up all his rings with the Lakers:

Second weirdest moment of the night: Pat Riley telling reporters that he would have given all five of his Lakers rings to win one Miami title. Really? All five? Look, we get the point -- you wanted to win the title. But did you really have to crap on Magic, Worthy, Kareem and Coop? I couldn't believe that. Imagine Kareem watching that at home and screaming at the TV, "You bandwagon bastard! I carried you for five titles!" before whipping a bottle of pinot grigio against the wall.

Riley was also ignoring Bob McAdoo (another Tar Heel) who played a big part in getting the first two rings and is a long time Heat assistant. That's the man behind the mask there. I've seen that guy before (LA, circa late 80's), no surprise.

The rest of his remarks brought me back to the revival meetings I've been to (it was a bit eerie). There are more than a few industries (I use that term loosely) that emphasize a shared belief in some bigger purpose to ease the pain of the 'hard sell'. They are amazingly effective at it. I don't imagine that top tier team sports are too much different. When things get difficult they've got to believe... in their own abilities, in each other, and the ability of the group to overcome. That's the pitch Riley has to make day after day, little by little. Behind the scenes McAdoo (and others) helped make it easier to grasp (he played the part of the super sub for two championship teams under Riley).

And let's face it, Pat Riley did perform a miracle or two. He pushed O'Neal to get fit (or as close as it's going to get). Twice. Phil couldn't get him there. He also got a lot of milage out of Walker and just enough out of Payton. Both were controversial additions, but he made the deals and he made it work once he kicked Van Gundy to the curb.

So yeah, he needs a new nickname. Reverend Riley works for me.