Yet, he speaks so matter-of-factly about his plans for success, like he knows something others don't.

"We've been to the playoffs one time in the last five years and that's not acceptable," Riley said at the press conference introducing him as the Warriors new general May 12. "Our fans deserve better than that, and we deserve the opportunity to get out there and win Basketball games. And we're going to do that."

President Robert Rowell, who hired Riley, doesn't blink when he vouches for Riley. Nelson, who hired Riley as an assistant coach in Dallas and brought him to the Warriors , said he's comfortable with Riley as his boss. Those who know Riley talk as if he's a lock.

"I don't think there is any reason he won't do a good job," said Stu Jackson, the NBA executive vice president of Basketball operations who was Riley's boss in the late 1990s when the two worked for the Vancouver Grizzlies. "He's an excellent evaluator of talent, extremely organized, extremely persistent and very methodical in his approach to his business.

"Larry is very, very comfortable in his ability. He knows who he is. He knows the job at hand. Larry will undoubtedly do a fine job."

That confidence Riley has, which allows him to brush off doubters, he got that from his late father, George. To be sure, many of the fundamentals that inspire others' faith in Riley were acquired on his father's farm outside of Richmond, Ind.

He developed his work ethic on the farm, which featured more than 250 acres and produced alfalfa, wheat, corn and soy beans, and had a livestock of dairy cows, beef cattle, hogs and chicken. He also developed humility and perseverance from the family business, which was at the mercy of the weather and insects and the economy.

"That was a great way to grow up," Riley, 64, said. "There was an expectation that you were going to work."

He learned attention to detail and accuracy from his mother, Pauline. She helped run the family business and was good at accounting, later adding a job as a bookkeeper at a furniture store.

He cultivated a competitive drive in the barn. His father took a piece of plywood and nailed it to the loft inside the barn, attacked a rim and in typical Hoosier fashion created the setting for a gazillion one-on-one battles between Riley and his twin brother, Mike. In the winter, they conquered the freezing temperatures by herding the cattle into the barn, using their body Heat to warm up the makeshift arena.

"We played against each other all the time," Mike said. "Neither one of us dominated for very long. Whenever one got the upper hand, the other one would get better, develop a part of his game and then turn the table."

Riley's athletic pedigree extends beyond barnyard battles with his brother. He lettered in Basketball, baseball and cross country at Whitewater High. He also played baseball and Basketball at Chadron State (Neb.).

His coaching career began with a series of assistant gigs at Southeast Missouri State, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Brevard Community College and Mercer College before getting his first head coaching job at his college alma mater. That led to a 10-year stint as the head man at Eastern New Mexico.

In 1988, Riley moved up to the NBA. The Milwaukee Bucks hired him as a scout and video coordinator, and he wound up an assistant coach. He moved to the front office when Jackson hired him as the director of player personnel in Vancouver, a role he held for six seasons.

The Grizzlies moved to Memphis and cleaned house, so Riley returned to the bench when Nelson brought him to be an assistant coach and scout for the Mavericks. Nelson brought Riley to the Warriors , and the two were inseparable until Riley moved to the Warriors front office.

"I've experienced a lifetime of ups and downs that go on in Basketball and in life," Riley said. "Had I been thrust into this position 25 years ago, it might've been a different story."

Along with his diverse experience, Riley has a down-to-earth personality that endears him to the people he works with.

His wife, Renee, and two children, the death of his father in 1983, his religion, he said it affords him the perspective necessary to maintain poise.

"He's got all the ingredients of a good human being," Nelson said. "He works hard. He's great at communicating. Honest. Loyal. The whole package.

"It bothers me (when people say he's my puppet). The truth is we work well together and that's the end of it. He did a good job as a coach, as a scout, as an assistant. He'll do any job well."

Contact Marcus Thompson II at mthomps2@bayareanewsgroup.com.The riley fileAge: 64 n Position: General manager, WarriorsNBA experience Bucks assistant coach, scout, 1988-94 Grizzlies director of player personnel, 1994-2000 Mavericks advance scout, assistant coach, 2000-06Note: Riley was also head coach at Chadron State (Neb.) from 1976-78 and at Eastern New Mexico from 1978-88.