Riley set to return to Heat after All-Star break

Basketball Betting Lines

02/12/2007 -

MIAMI (AP) -Pat Riley will resume coaching the Miami Heat following the All-Star break, an official within the NBA said Monday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Riley has not formally announced his plans. Riley is expected to announce his return at a news conference Wednesday morning in Miami. His first game back would be Feb. 21 at Houston.

Riley's decision was first reported by WTVJ television and on the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Web site.

Riley left the team on Jan. 3 because of ongoing hip and knee problems, both which required surgery. He had a procedure to repair cartilage in his right knee on Jan. 5, then hip replacement surgery Jan. 11.

Miami assistant coach Ron Rothstein will coach the Heat against Portland on Tuesday night in their final game before the All-Star break.

Players were reportedly told of Riley's decision on Monday.

Saying he was ``tired of the pain and the medication,'' the 61-year-old Riley decided to step away nearly six weeks ago to address his health issues. The Heat were 13-17 when he left, plus had been without center Shaquille O'Neal for much of the season while he recovered from knee surgery.

But now, with six wins in their last seven games, the Heat could get back to the .500 mark with a win Tuesday. And while a 25-26 record is hardly what Miami wanted at this point, the Heat are only four games behind Washington in the Southeast Division.

``We had a very, very rough, very challenging start, mostly due to our faults,'' O'Neal said Monday, hours before word broke that Riley's return was imminent.

The Heat are not expected to practice Wednesday, while O'Neal and All-Star teammate Dwyane Wade, along with 3-point shootout competitor Jason Kapono, get ready to head to Las Vegas for the weekend's festivities.

The team could practice in Miami next Monday, the day after the All-Star game, but it's unknown if Riley plans to run that session. He is expected to fly with the team to Houston on Tuesday, coach against the Rockets on Feb. 21, then at Dallas - where the Heat won last season's NBA title - the next night. His first home game back would be when Miami hosts Cleveland on Feb. 25.

Riley, who also is the Heat president, resigned as coach shortly before the 2003-04 season, then returned to the bench in December 2005, replacing Stan Van Gundy and postponing his hip replacement. In September, Riley said he didn't expect to need an operation this season, but the pain soon became too much to bear.

Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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March Madness odds and printable March Madness brackets

With the field of 64/65 set, MySportsbook.com has the Florida Gators as the 4-1 favorite to successfully defend their National Championship.  Men’s Division-1 College Basketball has not seen a team repeat as National Champions since Duke won back to back championships in ’91 & ‘92.  After losing three out of four late in the season, the Gators are full of momentum as they won their last four games by an average of 18 points.  Not surprisingly, right behind the Gators are the other three top seeds: Kansas 5-1, UNC 6-1, and Ohio State 7-1.  Many consider Kansas to be the hottest team in the country, having won 11 straight. With Kansas, it is hard to ignore all of the early exits from the “dance” in recent years.  With an impressive ACC Tournament, UNC ensured themselves the other top seed.  UNC has about as much talent as any other team in the tournament but with a team that’s best players are primarily freshman and sophomores, could youth be a concern.  Behind freshman sensation, Greg Oden, OSU will look to do what their football team failed to do just a few months earlier.  OSU seems to have peeked at the right time, as they currently have a 17 game winning streak.  Since the tournament field was expanded in 1985, there has never been an instance where all four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four.  It is obvious that each of the top seeds have the talent to make it through to Atlanta.  But as everyone knows, when makes the NCAA Tournament so special are all of the spoilers and “Cinderella” stories that knock off the favorites on a daily basis.

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MySportsbook.com’s odds to win the Championship and Regions:

EAST National Championship Region
Arkansas 300-1 50-1
Belmont 1000-1
Boston College 100-1 40-1
Eastern KY 1000-1
George Washington 75-1
Georgetown 10-1 3-2
Marquette 100-1 40-1
Michigan State 100-1 25-1
New Mexico St. 500-1 200-1
UNC 6-1 6-5
Oral Roberts  500-1
Texas 15-1 5-1
Texas Tech 200-1 5-1
USC 75-1 20-1
Vanderbilt 100-1 30-1
Washington State 40-1 15-1
WEST
Duke 50-1 10-1
Florida A&M 1000-1
Gonzaga 200-1  40-1
Holy Cross 300-1
Illinois 300-1 60-1
Indiana 75-1 40-1
Kansas 5-1 13-10
Kentucky 100-1 40-1
Niagara 1000-1
Pittsburgh 40-1 8-1
Southern Ill. 50-1 12-1
UCLA 10-1 3-2
VCU 500-1 100-1
Villanova 100-1 40-1
VA Tech 50-1 15-1
Weber St 1000-1
Wright St 1000-1 300-1
MIDWEST
Arizona 50-1 30-1
Butler 40-1 30-1
Davidson 300-1
Florida 4-1 4-5
Georgia Tech 75-1 25-1
Jackson State 1000-1
Maryland 30-1 6-1
Miami-OH 300-1
Notre Dame 100-1 20-1
ODU 500-1 100-1
Oregon 40-1 6-1
Purdue 300-1 60-1
Texas A&M CC 1000-1
UNLV 100-1 30-1
Winthrop 500-1 100-1
Wisconsin 15-1 7-2
SOUTH
Albany 200-1
BYU 200-1 40-1
Central CT St. 1000-1
Creighton 100-1 35-1
Long Beach St. 500-1 200-1
Louisville 40-1 10-1
Memphis 30-1 4-1
Nevada 75-1 35-1
North Texas 500-1
Ohio State 7-1 6-5
Penn 500-1
Stanford 200-1 50-1
Tennessee 100-1 20-1
Texas A&M 12-1 11-5
Virginia 75-1 18-1
Xavier 100-1 40-1

Field                                              100-1

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