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Pat Riley Never Could Tame Florida's Gators
'Alligator Alley' Unkind To UK All-American
If I could have my druthers this weekend, I'd be sipping a cold one (tea, of course) in Pat Riley's living room while the Los Angeles Lakers' coach and I tuned our antenna in the direction of the satellite that was picking up the Kentucky-Florida basketball game being played in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville.
Russell Rice
Cats' Pause Columnist
For the uninformed, a rare breed indeed among TCP readers, Riley was an All-American forward with the beloved "Rupp's Runts," UK's NCAA runner-up team of 1966. The O'Connell Center, completed in 1979 at a cost of $14 million, has become a showpiece for college basketball in the state of Florida.
"Wouldn't it be something," I'd say to Pat as the NBC commentators began their pregame analysis, "if we could set our time machine back 23 years, take O'Connell Center with us, and replay those three games in Gainesville in which you were, well let's face it, less that terrific in the old Florida Gym?"
Then I'd remind him that as a sophomore making his first trip to Gainesville in 1965, he described that awful facility as a "Lion's Den."
"Gators, Pat, not Lions," I'd say, "as in Alligator Alley.' Remember those exposed rafters, which were interspersed with huge heating ducts? And how about those small, slit-like windows which were located high up near the roof and through which light was filtered in a wierd fashion? Perhaps that's why you couldn't hit the side of a barn there. . .oops, jurors, disregard that remark." Sustained.
"ALL RIGHT, PAT, ISN'T IT A FACT that in those three games, you hit only two of 25 from the field and eight of 12 from the line for a 4.0 ppg. average, which is a far cry from your UK career average of 17.9 ppg.?" I'd continue.
Pat undoubtedly would want to change the subject, but I'd like to ask if he remembers how it felt to run onto the floor for the first time and be greeted by 6,000 Gator fans, shirtsleeves blending with colored blouses, squeezed into a space designed for 5,000 and shouting "Gator Bait?" And how those fans were seated so close to the playing floor that their knees were in the backs of UK's radio announcers.
I bet Pat didn't know that Florida officials feared a riot each time the Wildcats came to town. The problem was in a ticket allotment of 4,000 to students and 1,000 to townspeople. The students always threatened to come early and occupy those seats that had been purchased by the townspeople. As once UF official explained, "We would have hundreds of empty seats against such teams as Georgia and Tulane, but when Kentucky comes to town, everybody wants a ticket." So what else is new?
After all the "Gator Bait" jeers that taunted the Wildcats, I remember well how the Florida fans started cheering as those 1964 Wildcats ran back onto the floor just before the game ,got underway in the "Alley." First there was a surprised look on the Wildcat faces, then our players turned and headed back off the floor as the cheering was for Dr. J Wayne Reitz, University of Florida president who was being escorted onto the floor to deliver a eulogy to Dr. John J. Tigert, who had died the previous day.
That was a coincidence, since Dr. Tigert, one of the outstanding athletes and scholars of his time, once filled the Chair of Philosophy at UK, where he also coached the girls' basketball team two years, the football team in 1915 (6-1-1) and 1916 (4-1-2) and the basketball Wildcats in 1913 (5-3). He also was in charge of roundball when assistants Jim Park and Bill Tuttle, respectively, did that actual coaching in 1916 and 1917. Dr. Tigert at one time was U.S. Commissioner of Education.
That was the only time the crowd was quiet, but who could blame them for letting off steam? The Gators had only won one of 22 games against UK, with the Wildcats taking the last 18 in a row, and the lone UF victory was in the SEC tournament in 1934.
THE GAME WAS AS ROUGH AS THE FANS WERE VOCAL, with a total of 58 fouls called. The Gators hit 34 of 48, the 'Cats 22 of 29 from the line as Florida won 84-68. John Adams, Terry Mobley and Riley fouled out while Randy Embry, Larry Con-ley and Tommy Kron were tooted for four each.
Sitting in the stands was Pat's brother Len, who had driven up from Tampa with his wife Katie. A former basketball player at Florida Southern, Len hadn't seen Pat in more than a year. He and Katie would see each of the three games Pat played in the Alley.
"He has let his hair grow," was Len's first observation. "I've never seen him in anything but a crewcut. I didn't recognize him at first."
Could that have been the same Pat Riley who 20 years later would be described by Bill Livingston of the Philadelphia Enquirer as a coach with a "wethead" hair style that is never dampened by sweat but is slicked down with scented oils that gloss the ringlets in the back?
(We sympathize with Pat on the death of Len earlier this month while pointing out that the athletic Riley family also included father Lee, who played professional baseball, and brother Lee Jr., who played professional football for the Eagles, Lions and Giants.)
The Wildcats won in Gainesville the following year, the season of the "Runts," but the nightmare that was Alligator Alley was even worse for Pat. He hit a free throw to give UK a 1-0 lead, but that, was the extent of his scoring as he missed all eight shots from
the field and the only other free throw that he attempted. He fouled out with more than three minutes remaining. Sophomore center Thad Jaracz took up the slack, hitting 11 of 15 from the field and four of six from the line for 26 points. Larry Conley added 17 while Louie Dampier scored 15. The 'Cats won 78-64.
THE 1967 SEASON WAS A DISASTER, not only in Alligator Alley, but on all fronts as the Wildcats finished 13-13, barely missing becoming the first UK team since 1927 to post a losing season. The loss of Conley and Kron from the "Runts" was crucial, but so was the physical condition of Riley, who suffered a back injury received in a water-skiiing accident during the summer. Throughout that season, he was in constant pain, taking pills for relief in the daytime and strapped in weights and pulleysin tractioneach night.
Riley During His Days At UK, Left, And Today With The Lakers
When the Wildcats returned to Alligator Alley in January 1967, they had lost half of
their 10 games, including the first loss ever to Florida on the home floor. Riley duplicated his shooting slump of the preceding year, going zero for eight from the field: however, he hit four of five from the line. The Gators won 89-72. becoming the fourth school in SEC history to beat the 'Cats twice in a season. Here are Pat's stats for games played in Alligator Alley:
Riley's Alligator	Alley Stats				
year	fg-tga/pct.	ft-fta/pct.	reb./avg.	pf	pts./avg.
1965...............................	..............2-9/22.2	3-5/60.0	7/xx	5	7/xx
1966...............................	...............0-8/00.0	1-2/50.0	3/xx	5	1/xx
1967...............................	..............0-8/00.0	4-5/80.8	3/xx	4	4/xx
Totals..............................	.............2-25/08.0	8-12/667	13/4.3	14	12/4.0
Compare the above with his lifetime stats at UK:
Riley's UK Varsity Career Stats					
year	g/min.       fg-fga/pct. ft-fta/pct.	reb./avg.	a	Pf	pts./avg.
1964-65	..........25/835     160-370/43.2 55-89/61.8	212/8.5	27	98	375/15.0
1965-66	29/1078     265-514/51.6 107-153/69.9	259/8.9	64	106	612/21.1
1966-67	..........26/953     165-373/44.2 122-156/78.2	201/7.1	68	90	452/17.4
Totals............	........80/2866   590-1257/46.9 284-398/71.1	627/83 159		294	1439/17.9
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MY FAVORITE STORY ABOUT PAT RILEY occured when he was 10- or 11-years-old and doing a pretty good job on the basketball courts at Schenectady's Central Park, which he described as a real nice, manicured place where the middle-class kids played.
"I guess I was pretty obnoxious about it. telling everybody what to do." Pat recalled. "So my old man and brothers got tired of hearing it. My old man decided to take me down to Lincoln Heights, where the street kids played."
There was this one particular kid. a bully, who not only kicked his butt every day in the games, but also took pleasure in doing it. One day. he chased Pat all the way around the playground with a butcher knife. Pat ran all the way home, crying and. for a long time, didn't go back.
When father Lee and the brothers started dropping by to see how Pat was doing, the other kids told them he hadn't been around for some time.
"I still remember my old man talking to me," Pat said. "I was sitting in my room and he told me. T sent you there because I wanted to teach you not to be afraid.'
Although he doesn't remember the name of that bully. Pat is sure he never made it to the NBA. He also remembers what happened before he got through playing at Lincoln Heights.
"Oh. I took care of my nemisis." he told Livingston. "For all I know, he disappeared into the Hudson River after that."
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