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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PISTONS v HEATMay 23, 2006Pat RileyDETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game One Q. Coach, you didn't do shoot-around today. Is that a normal kind of thing for you, a superstitious kind of thing? PAT RILEY: No, we normally would, but the trip sometimes, from beginning to end, is three and a half hours. It just takes up too much of the day. We've been out on the court a lot. We were on the court eight hours yesterday and on the court a long time. So what we needed today was a real thorough walk-through. We had nice big ballroom, chandeliers, all that crap. One of the skip passes cross-court destroyed one of the chandeliers and we had a good film session. My shoot-arounds used to be very active or actually were like practice, but they're really not anymore. They're really more walk-throughs. But that was the only reason. Q. How much importance is there on getting 1? Is this any bigger than Game 2 and getting off to a good start? Does it last the entire series? PAT RILEY: I'll tell you what, you want to draw first blood. Both teams want to do it. Get out on top as quickly as you can. You know, but they're coming off a tough series. I really don't know the state of mind they're in. I know they're in a real honed edge. We've been out for a while. They're the odds-on favorite, that's how I look at it, the world champions. The only team that's left has been a world champion the last couple of years. They've had the best record in the league and I think there's a huge expectation for them to do it again in light of what's happened out West. We want to try to raise the ante as much as we can. Q. You've endured Hack-a-Shaq over the years. With Ben Wallace shooting the way he is; if need be would you revert to Hack-a-Ben strategy -- PAT RILEY: We call it HAS, it's either HAB hack or HAB HAS. Or are we going to HAS Shaq. We'll wait and see. It is a strategy obviously because both players struggle a little bit at the free throw line. You do have to watch it, about, but I've never done it. I was embarrassed by it once, but it doesn't mean I won't do it if there's a need to really do it. We plan for it a little bit and we'll see what happens with it. Q. I was wondering if you can just compare the feelings you had last year watching Game 7 compared to the feelings you have tonight knowing that you're more directly involved in this. PAT RILEY: You know, I was really -- I can remember sitting in the stands and watching that game. I mean, you throw it all up in the 7th game, and we were home, and it was a close game even though we had the lead a small portion -- a small lead throughout the course of the game. We had a three-point lead, I think, with about a minute and a half to go on a Shaquille bank and then all hell broke loose. It's just the way it happens in games. It was a very disappointing loss for everybody in the organization. My approach now, I'm just very excited to be here and can't wait to get the series on. Q. Probably not since your great Showtime teams have you coached a series of many magnitude against the Pistons. Does it conjure up any memories of those great titanic bells of the Pistons? PAT RILEY: The Dome was a lot different when we came here back in 88. It was a long time ago. It's already been 18 years. That was a crazy series, absolutely crazy series. I mean, both years it really was. I remember the first year, we were down 3 to 2 and the drama of Isiah going down with the ankle sprain and him getting 25 in the third quarter was unreal. I've actually watched that game a couple of times. And then the seventh game, Dennis Rodman's jumper on the wings. Does anybody remember that? It actually was a good shot. You remember all those moments. Then the next year we swept the playoffs. We won 11 in a row. We had a nine-day layoff, went to Santa Barbara and basically got swept in the playoffs. Things change, but they were great battles. Those teams were really in sync with each other.
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