Pat Riley's Fantasy Land NBA

This guy:


Became this guy:


Who all the while has been culturally morphed into this guy:


...and who later has to relate to guys like this:

(note the look on Riley's face)

This is not a video game. This is not the 80's. Pat Riley is out of touch. Recent evidence you ask? He gets Daequan Cook in the first round of the draft this year- a young kid from Dunbar (Dayton) who was a bench player for last year's 2nd place Buckeyes. He didn't start in college and was drafted in the first round. He is a young, raw talent. Probably got a little attitude problem. Fine. He went from Dayton to Dwayne Wade in 2 years. I get it. But you know who doesn't? Pat Riley.

Riley sends DQ to Iowa to play D-League Ball for a 5-game stretch and states the following: "It’s really about Daequan getting there and saying, ‘Yes, sir. Whatever it takes. What do you want me to do? How are we going to do it? I’m going to play hard and play as hard as I can. I’m trying to get myself ready,"’ Riley said. "So we’ll see what happens in five games and then we’ll make a determination from there."



I understand his intentions. I do. He wants to send a message. He wants to see a change. But Daequan's NBA rookie year has been made up of exposure to the following teammates: Ricky Davis, Smush Parker, Mark Blount, Jason Williams (see above), and the recent addition, Shawn Marion. soooo.... 5 games. In Iowa. "Yes, sir. Whatever it takes." Get real.