"We've got enough cunningness and enough veterans to get it done," O'Neal said. "We'll be ready."

O'Neal — who is seeking a fifth title — knows Riley will see to that.

The 62-year-old coach and team president has seven championship rings, five as a head coach, one as an assistant, one as a player. His career postseason coaching record is 171-107, making him the second-winningest playoff boss in league history, seven victories behind the Los Angeles Lakers' Phil Jackson.

And some of his postseason ways have become the stuff of legend.

"Look at his resume," O'Neal said. "We've all grown up watching him and we know what's on his resume. That's it. That's all you need. Experience. Resume and experience, that's what separates him."

When Miami lost the first two games of last year's finals in Dallas, Riley wrote "6-20-06" on a markerboard in the locker room, told the Heat that they'd win the title on June 20 and walked out. Sure enough, he was right. The Heat took the title with a Game 6 win that very day on the Mavericks' home floor — a good thing, because Riley said he packed "one suit, one shirt, one tie" for that trip to Dallas.

"He's a better playoff coach than he is in the regular season, and that's saying a lot," Wade said. "But that's why he's won championships. He knows how to get the team to relax, how to get the team to play, and that's what we need. That's why he's our guy."

Riley's biggest contribution to last season's title, the first in Heat history, wasn't a well-designed offensive play or a sharp defensive call. It was a saying — "15 Strong" — which became the team's credo on the postseason march.

He had it printed on tens of thousands of little cards, some with pictures of the NBA championship trophy on one side, some with players' names, some with pictures of the players with their wives and families. And in the champagne-soaked locker room in Dallas, those cards were stuck to everyone and everything.

To relive that scene, Riley has tweaked the credo just a bit.

"We're going to add an '-er' to it," Riley said. "E-R. And that doesn't mean emergency room. It means stronger, smarter, bigger, faster, all the things we're going to have to be. And this is the time."