Kevin Pelton, SUPERSONICS.COM | September 28, 2005
New Seattle SuperSonics assistant coach
Bob Hill comes to the Sonics with more than three decades of coaching experience, including a decade on NBA sidelines. Hill, who has a career record of 257-212 as an NBA head coach, most recently was head coach at Fordham University. Hill recently sat down with SUPERSONICS.COM for a Q&A about his background and philosophy.
SUPERSONICS.COM: How long have you known Sonics Head Coach Bob Weiss?
Hill: We've known each other casually for a long time, because I was in the league for 11 years before and he's been in the league since he was like eight years old. Everybody knows Bobby Weiss and everybody likes Bobby Weiss. He's a friend of the league; he's that kind of guy.
What do you bring to the Sonics coaching staff?
I don't know. I think, after 30 years of coaching, I can bring whatever they need me to bring, to be honest with you. I've always prided myself on being a student of basketball. I've written a lot about it, I've studied it a lot and I've studied under coaches. I've always tried to keep an open mind, realizing that there's more ways to do things than one. I'm not unlike a lot of guys - there's certain things about basketball that I had success with that I certainly believe in, but if there's a better way to do it, then I've tried to be open-minded about it. I think I can bring whatever Bobby needs me to bring.
How would you describe your philosophy as a coach?
I wrote a book encouraging younger coaches to establish philosophies of the game - offense, defense, special situations, practices, the whole thing. As you move along, your philosophies change and get stronger. I think in the NBA, the teams that have a balance in their performance that is anchored with their defense are the ones that continue to play and finally win championships. I think trying to establish that balance, play both ends of the floor but anchor everything with your defense is really where I am right now. Offensively, I think it's really important to get easy baskets. I think this team in particular is a team that's built to run and is built to score points. I think it's important that we do get out there, but I think our biggest improvement has to come defensively. If we can do that, we can win a lot of games.
What have you done since coaching at Fordham?
I took the two years and I just immersed myself in basketball. We had a Big Man & Guard Camp at the United States Basketball Academy in Oregon, so I wrote the curriculum for that. We've run that two summers. Then I've been to China four times doing tours with teams and clinics. I did clinics in the States. I did a lot of training players, like Desmond Mason, who was here before. Desmond is a client of Roger Montgomery, who is in San Antonio, so for two years I trained all of his clients - Desmond, Joey and Stevie Graham this year, Winsome Frazier, Chris Owens and a bunch of them and then taught four or five other guys. So actually, from the end of the college season all the way through the summer, I was in the gym every day. I developed and kind of put finishing touches on a player skills development program and all the drills and philosophies behind that. I watched games every night and then read a lot of books. I read books to pick up ideas on managing people and motivating people. The motivation part, the stories that are in books and the ideas about managing people, even in business books, whatever book I could get my hands on. I read a lot. I did the whole gamut.
How did you get involved with the USBA?
They called me after I left San Antonio. They called and asked if I would come up and get involved. At that time, they were having an international tryout camp. There is a level of player in this country that would blow your mind. They're really good. They're just not, for some reason, quite good enough to play in the NBA. A lot of them go overseas today. The basketball community of the world's in pretty good shape. These teams in these other countries are good now, partly because of Americans who have gone over and, either as a player or a coach, gotten involved in the maturation process of some of these countries. At that time, it was Europeans and Asians and everybody was there to watch. So I went up there. When you go up there, if you like basketball, you fall in love with the place. It's 45 minutes outside of Eugene along the McKenzie River in this big huge valley with all these enormous trees. It's like heaven up there. The weather is usually beautiful, the air is so clean and the food there is great. All there is to do is eat, sleep and basketball. There is a golf course about a half-mile away, but I haven't played that much golf up there. It's a place I look forward to going to. You're in the gym six or seven hours a day, you go have dinner, then you sit in your lodge and talk basketball until you fall asleep. Then you get up and you get up and do it all over again. For people who love basketball, it's a heck of a place.
How has the NBA changed since you were last on the sidelines?
Players change leagues. I think the players have changed the league quite a bit since we started drafting younger players, so now the development of those players becomes a priority. The league is much quicker and faster than it was before, probably not quite as skilled in terms of passing and shooting. I think we've often - not so much in the NBA - lost that in-between game. They either want to shoot 3s or go in and finish. When you find a player that can shoot 3s and then hit long twos and mid-range twos and shoot a floater and a baby hook and a stepback, you've got yourself a player, at least offensively - there's not a lot of those. So I think, although it's probably in some respects a little more athletic and fun, we're still in that development stage. But some of those guys who came in from high school or one year of college are awfully good, and I think the NBA's going to turn the corner soon in terms of being better than it's ever been in terms of its players and the product we can put on the floor when these guys get some experience under their belt. When LeBron (James) gets a couple more years under his belt … some of these guys are really, really good. 
(Vladimir) Radmanovic is a good example. If he continues to get better, how much fun he'd be to watch night in and night out. 
Rashard (Lewis) is really good. 
Luke (Ridnour), after coming out early. There's a lot of them. Every team has a number of them. I think that's the biggest change.
Who would you call the best coach you've worked with during your career?
I've been pretty lucky. Tim Grgurich, who was here for a while - I worked with him early in my career. Then I was with Ted Owens, then I was with Larry Brown, then I was with Hubie Brown. I think Larry Brown stands out. Larry Brown is a basketball coach through and through, and that is the most important thing in his life. He doesn't allow other things to get involved too much with his basketball. He talks it, he eats it, he sleeps it. I learned so much from him. What I learned from him was really simple, which is usually the case. He keeps things simple, and he teaches teams to be a team - just what they're supposed to be. He demands it. I remember a lot. He's clearly the best one I ever worked with.
