The Unthinkable: Pat Riley is back

Pat Riley is returning as Heat head coach. That's is right, the team president is demoting himself because Stan Van Gundy is stepping down - voluntarily. Well, that is the official word from SVG, citing "family" as his reason for giving the reigns back to Riley. No official word yet as to whether or not Stan considers the Heat family.

But this demonstrates the unthinkable. I guess I have seen it all. I never expected Pat Riley to return to this team and chalked it up to media speculation - and aything less than that is not warranted. Sure, Riley is a lifer and loves to coach and has always fought the itch to get back into it. He was recently interviewed for the Lakers head coaching spot this past summer. And for any writer or member of any media to say 'I told you so' is a bunch of bologna. Everyone thought about the possibility, but no one knew it was going to happen. No one.

Now, the question remains, will Riley be able to get this team to perform to its full capacity? There is no doubting Pat Riley's credibility or track record, just whether or not he is the right coach for this team. It seems it is time to find out.

Stan Van Gundy has done an excellent job managing the ship while Riley was away. Taking two very different teams deep into the playoffs in his first two seasons as head coach is not something that should be overlooked. The official reasons as to why SVG is stepping down will be made known today around 11:00 pm at a press conference. The media frenzy will shortly resume from that point on. We will all lay witness to what follows - and although many will claim to know what is going on, no one will truly know what is about to happen.