Riley Steps Down; Could It Be For Good?

Before tonight's game, around 5pm at the press conference, Pat Riley not only addressed how he was stepping down, indefinetly, as the Heat's head coach to get his knee and hip treated, but he also dropped another point of interest: he was taking James Posey and Antoine Walker with him.

The official reasoning he gave was that both players were being suspended due to not being up to par physically for the Heat. Apparently, Riley has a sliding scale in place for fitness for his players and both Posey and Walker are not within their demanded range.

Posey is currently at 9% body fat, but commented that he is going to stay behind and continue to work so that he can get down to that 8% requirement that is asked of him.

As for 'Toine Walker, he is currently at 11%, by some estimates (whose, I have no idea...) and needs to get his down to at least 10%. When asked about the suspension, which means being listed "inactive" for tonight's game against the Clippers (which resulted in a 110-95 home loss...), Walker said, "I ain't talkin'."

This is not coincedence, and something must be afoot here in Miami.

There have been rumors that Riley has grown tired of all the bickering, and the complacency. Riley has always been a physically demanding coach, his practices were always one of legend. Just ask Zo.

Yet, this has never happened on any recent Heat team. The only incident that I could think of like this would be Ike Austin, whom Riley had discovered in his early Heat tenure. Austin had a huge weight issue, but was able to keep his weight down and stay in good shape with Miami under Riley. Udonis Haslem, another player who had weight issues, got himself in shape before coming into Heat camp a few years ago as an undrafted rookie. He has kept the weight off ever since and has been a devout Riley follower.

So, weight issues have never really been a problem for Riley as a coach. Especially not this late in the season. There seems to be more to this situation that is being related.

Also, although Riley's need for treatment is legit, his timing is questionable. Currently, the Heat are playing without Wade and Shaq, and are in a bit of a slump. Perhaps the medical attention is dire and needed now more than ever. There was very little time in the offseason to get this done.

This also could be a motivational tactic for Pat Riley. Maybe this will be his way of reaching through to his players.

It is a well-known fact among insiders that Riley has grown tired of some of Walker's antics. He has been grumpy and headstrong, and not willing at times to take criticism. The Heat need better performances from Walker and he has at times seem to be lost on the court, not to mention playing without any confidence. He is having his least productive year as a professional, too. The Heat need better from Walker.

Yet, Riley has been quick to cut back criticism of Antoine Walker, and pointed that the team as a whole has underperformed.

Could something be brewing here? Could Riley be tiring of the antics of this team to the point where he would actually give up? There are some who believe the players are tiring of Riley and his demands - already. And that these players want Riley out of Miami. If this is true, these players don't understand that Riley IS the Miami Heat. He is team president, GM and head coach. He controls everything in Miami related to NBA basketball.

And if this is true, for the sake of the franchise these dissenters need to be caste out of Miami for good.

Shaq is going to be coming back very soon and he is reportedly in great shape - better than when he started the season. So, analysists who may think that this is a bargaining chip ready to be levied at the Diesel may be outthinking themselves. What happened could be simply that Riley was going to step down and didn't want his class disrupted by the bad kids in class while he was away. The substitute is Ron Rothstein, one time Heat head coach, but it is clear that this is still Riley's lesson plan.