European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 05, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A  7v i a wednesday june 5, 1991 the stars and stripes Riley to cast Page 25commentary Dave Anderson a a. When the Aba finals began sunday Pat Riley fulfilled his Abc contract but his season on camera made him realize that his heart was still on a. Bench with a basketball team. A after the studio show each week a he recalled a i d walk out of Abc alone. I d get in a cab alone. Id take a flight Back to California alone then the next weekend id get on a flight to new York and come Back alone. After you be been around a team for 30 years its hard being alone like  at age 46, happiness for Pat Riley is coaching an Aba team again. Even the new York kicks. A by the time the season starts a he said Friday at his Coronation a a in la Tell Mem if i think we can finish fourth or fifth in the Eastern conference. You be got. To give pm something to shoot  this is a philosophy professor whose proven tenets include much More than hitting the open Man. A a in a a running coach who believes in quickness a he said. A i want  who Are versatile. I done to think you can run unless you can rebound the Ball and you can to rebound the Ball without great defense. A i want players who can play offence with their Back to the Basket who can Post up and Force the opposing defense to foul and help you go to the  in guiding the lakers to four Aba titles in nine seasons Riley always had magic Johnson and except for his last season there he always had Kareem Abdul Jabbar. With the kicks now Riley has Only Patrick Ewing and whatever new or Holdover players gather at training Camp after the roster shuffling that is sure to occur. A Patrick Ewing a he said a is at the stage where Michael Jordan was at where Karl Malone was at where Hakeem Olajuwon was at All the gifted players who Are not part of winners. When the Burden Falls on your shoulders you be got to carry it. Patrick a ready to break through. But Hencels help. Just As magic needs it just As Kareem  while providing that help Riley must instill a new attitude on a team that was last in the league in High fives. Most of last seasons kicks did no to even seem to like one another. A you rotate eight players you play seven you use six and you Trust five a he said with a Niile. A a in a very easy to get along with As Long As you accept the spirit of the team. A. A the most difficult thing to teach players is How to get away from being themselves and get with the program. You need four or five Guys who Force the others to comply. When that begins to happen you re on your  one of those four or five is expected to be Michael Cooper the former Laker defensive Demon who played in Italy last season. A teamwork multiplies the potential of everyone on it a Riley wrote in a Showtime a his Book on the lakers 1986-87 championship season. A the key to teamwork is to learn a role accept that role and strive to become excellent playing it. Quot a the lakers understood the importance of their roles floor leaders to guide the team Strate new a Nicks coach Pat Riley a after you be been around a team for 30 years its hard being alone. Mically win men and trailers to make our fast break Click aggressive Rebo unders to deliver the Ball to our Best shooters and solid patient reserves to keep control of the game when the starters need a  As flip lakers coach Riley devised a plus minus system that he intends to use on the kicks. A you get a plus for everything positive a shot that you make a rebound an assist a steal a Block a he said. A you get a minus for everything negative a missed shot a turnover sometimes a personal foul. A the stat Sheet is the players Bible. After a game that a the first thing players look at. But they can to just look at what they did Well. They be got to look at their mistakes. They be got to be  a it As the lakers coach Riley preached a take the Ball out of the net and get if across Hal court in Lour seconds Advance the Ball a but the kicks must also Advance themselves in the standing. A to do that there has to be a philosophy that everybody believes in that everybody is sincere about a the new coach said. A if players t Ruly want to win they get into the spirit of what it takes to win. That spirit has to be More  than anything they can get out of the game a but with their new philosophy professor whichever kicks done to get into that spirit wont be kicks for Long. A a the new York time a tills loss ends shot at Home playoff record by Bill Barnard a basketball writer _ Chicago a the Chicago bulls loss i game 1 ended their chances of a re jord setting playoff season. I the bulls took an 11-1 record into Lunday a game with the los Angeles lakers who snapped Chicago a 15-game a Ott winning Streak at Home with a 93-1 Victory. I he 1983 Philadelphia 76ers were the Lynh team to win the Aba title with just Itte playoff loss. Their 12-1 postseason pc re is the Best in Aba history. A Twe the playoff format was changed in 1984 to require 15 victories to win the title the Best record is 15-2 by the 1989 Detroit pistons. A this has been a year of firsts for coaches in the Aba. A Phil Jackson in his second season with the Chicago bulls and Mike Dunleavy first year coach of the los Angeles lakers Are making their first coaching appearances in the Aba finals. The last time both finals coaches had  experience in the Champi--oiyship., was 10 years ago when Bill Fitch was coaching Boston and Del Harris was at Houston. It also happened in 1080 with Paul Westhead for the lakers and Billy Cunningham at Philadelphia. In addition both 1991 All Star coaches a Portland s Rick Adelman and Bostons Chris Ford a had not previously appeared in the All Star game. A this year is the 11th time the Aba has used the 2-3-2 Home court format for the finals. The team with the two sets of Home games has won nine of the 10 previous series with this format with the Only exception coming in 1985 when Boston opened at Home but lost the finals in six games to the lakers. A Michael Jordan could become the fourth player to win a scoring championship and the Aba championship in the same season. The others were Kareem Abdul Jabbar for Milwaukee in 1971, George Mikan for Minneapolis in 1949 and 1950 and Joe lurks for the 1947 Philadelphia warriors. Jordan and the bulls have never before been in the Aba finals but he already has a prominent place in playoff history. Jordan is the Only player in Aba history with 50 or More Points in consecutive playoff games. He had 50 on april 28, 1988, and 55 on May 1, both against c Leveland in the first round. He also has the top scoring performance in postseason history 63 Points in a double overtime loss to Boston on april 20. 1986