Rileyball To Rear Its Ugly Head

Well, here we go. Pat Riley, shown above after being asked about the size of Shaquille O'Neal's penis, has made clear his intention to ugly up the NBA Finals. They're going to roll with a little more "Rileyball," which is, of course, another term for ugly basketball. For examples, see any of the playoff games between the Knicks and the Heat from the late-90s, an era which nearly killed basketball.

Down one game, any attempt by the Heat to match skill vs. skill is going out the window. Perhaps I'm overreacting, but I think that we as fans should react violently to any attempt to return to that late-90's Heat/Knicks style of basketball. Not everyone has to be the Phoenix Suns, of course, but come on. Those games were hellish to watch, perhaps the ugliest games since before there was a shot clock. And if that's what Pat Riley wants to do with this series, I can't wish him any kind of success.

Heat could embrace Rileyball in Game 2 [Columbus Dispatch] Shaq's Top 10 NBA Finals quotes [ESPN.com]