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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2000)
Riley closes in on 1,000 By Steven Wine The Associated Press MIAMI — To explain how Pat Riley accumulated 998 NBA victo ries, Jack Ramsay recalls a game that got away. It was a few years ago in Char lotte, where the Miami Heat blew a three-point lead in the final sec onds of regulation, then lost in overtime. “To me, after that game, I would have been ready to punch some body’s lights out,” said Ramsay, a Hall of Fame coach and now a Heat broadcaster. “It was really a tough loss. So we flew back to Miami, and as Pat is getting off the plane, he looks at me and laughs and says, ‘That’s why you got out of coaching, isn’t it?’ “He can get rid of all the frustra tion. He lets it go, which is very good.” By coping well with defeat, Ri ley has lasted long enough to ap proach 1,000 victories, a milestone achieved only by Atlanta Hawks coach Lenny Wilkens. Riley’s focus will be elsewhere this week as the postseason ap proaches with point guard Tim Hardaway hobbled. And if the Heat make another hasty playoff exit after winning their fourth con secutive Atlantic Division title, Ri ley will be second-guessed for his stubborn commitment to the cur rent roster. An occasional critic points out that it has been 11 years since his most recent NBA title. Still, no one suggests the guy can’t coach. “In this game, with all the stress es and pressures, to be able to win 1,000 games is a huge achieve ment,” said Wilkens, who. has 1,178-980 (.546) in 27 seasons. Riley is 998-432 (.698) in 18 sea sons. Because the Heat have al ready clinched the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, their final two regular-season games are meaningless, so Riley may not reach 1,000 until next sea son. Postseason wins don’t count toward the total. But there’s no hurry. At 55, Riley plans to coach at least several more years. He’ll leave the 1,000 barrier far behind and could eventually surpass Wilkens’ win total. “Pat has been at a top level for a number of years,” Indiana coach Larry Bird said, “and one of these days he’ll be the all-time win ningest coach. I can see it coming.” Three years of coaching million aires was enough for Bird, who plans to call it quits after this season. Riley, in his fifth season with his third team, still thrives in a job with high turnover and low security. “Coaching has hooked him,” Ramsay said. “I was still coaching when he started. Someone asked him how long he was going to coach and he said, ‘Aw, I’m not a lifer like Ramsay. ’ Well, it turns out he is a lifer.” Streak continued from page 7 ing at some records. She is cur rently ranked first in RBIs with 139 and fifth in hits with 202, one of only five Ducks with 200 or more career hits. She is also knocking on the door in the home run department. Her 26 career dingers put her third all-time behind Robinson and Stahl. While Robinson and Welch came into the season tied for sev enth in doubles at 20 apiece, they have both risen three spots togeth er to fourth all-time at 31. Run support Sophomore hurler Connie Mc Murren has finally gotten some run support to go along with her superb pitching. During the last home stand, McMurren had pitched a total of 20 innings, al lowing only two runs on 12 hits, but she didn’t get a win for her ef forts. What a difference a change of scenery will do for one’s confi dence. On the recent road-trip, Mc Murren picked up three wins and a save in four games of work. The difference was run support. In her previous losses, McMurren did not get any help from her team mates as the Ducks scored only one run. However, during her cur rent two-game winning streak, Oregon has scored 13 runs in the three games which McMurren got a decision. The two wins improved Mc Murren’s season record to 12-12. In the middle of the Pac The recent sweep of the Bay Area teams improved Oregon’s Pac-10 record to 4-6 and puts them smack-dab in the middle of the conference race. The Ducks are currently in fifth place and are ahead of three other teams who are ranked higher than them in the national polls. 009050 Tim Wise Join Tim and your fellow students in exploring the many aspects of diversity and its role at the University of Oregon. Lunch & Discussion: Tuesday, April 18th, 12:30pm Multicultural Center, EMU Keynote Address: “Beyond Diversity: Challenging Racism in an Age of Backlash/’ EMU Ballroom - Tuesday, April 18th, 7pm Community Town Hall Panel Discussion: Wednesday, April 19th, 7pm Ben Linder Room, EMU Also watch for discussions with Tim in select classes! All events are free and open to the public. Sponsored by Friars and the ASUO April 17-19 at the University of Oregon Get results with Oregon Daily Emerald Classifieds! 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