Santa Cruz Warriors: Casey Hill reflects on Surf City coaching experience

Blue Man Hoop’s Angelo Mendoza had the chance to talk to former Santa Cruz Warriors head coach Casey Hill before he and his new team, the Agua Caliente Clippers, visit Kaiser Permanente Arena on Saturday.

Coach Casey Hill will be visiting Kaiser Permanente Arena for the first time since moving on from his position as head coach of the Santa Cruz Warriors, and there’s no doubt it will be quite the emotional return.

In his first three years as head coach, Hill helped lead the NBA D-League affiliate of the Golden State Warriors to three consecutive D-League Finals appearances, winning a D-League championship in 2015. His team missed out on a playoff appearance in 2016, bouncing back into the postseason the following year.

Discussing his experience working with the Warriors and the lessons he learned while serving as the head coach in Santa Cruz, Hill praised the entire organization, highlighting how beneficial it was to have such an open line of communication.

"“Working for them was such a unique experience for me because it was the first real NBA organization that I’ve ever worked for, and they have such a unique way of communicating amongst themselves — it’s very casual, but also extremely professional,” said Hill.“They value everyone’s opinions and perspectives. It’s such a comfortable place to exist and work,” Hill continued. “It’s something I really valued and appreciated about how they did things — and it came down from the full top: Bob Myers starts it off with his disposition, his perceptive on things and how he communicates, and it trickled down through Steve (Kerr) and the coaching staff.”“We tried to emulate that as much as we possibly could in Santa Cruz and really [tried to] take advantage of all the resources that they gave us, too.”"

Unfortunately, Hill was simply unable to remain with the Warriors having achieved all he could with the organization (short of moving up into Golden State’s coaching staff), so it wasn’t much of a surprise when it was announced that Hill would be moving on from his role in Santa Cruz in order to pursue other NBA coaching opportunities.

Nevertheless, Hill’s name continues to be held in high regard within the city of Santa Cruz — not just for his role in bringing what many hope to be only the first of many championship parades to Surf City, but also for his efforts off the court within the Central Coast community.

I mean honestly, I couldn’t even begin to put into words how unique and indescribably different the Santa Cruz community is. Being by the beach, time just seems to move a bit slower by the Boardwalk, and the people are just so overwhelmingly positive and self aware that the overall vibe can come off a bit weird if you’re too accustomed to the city life.

Yet Hill embraced that vibe from day one, and the community equally embraced him and his team with open arms. This relationship came to define KP Arena, which would often mirror the support given at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Hill believes that the Warriors organization couldn’t have picked a better location for their G League affiliate.

"“Santa Cruz…it was a home run — them (the Warriors) choosing that specific point to put the team and allowing us to really kind of spread our wings and take ownership of making that community trust us and believe in us…I thought that was spectacular,” Hill said. “It was the perfect storm that kicked off really well.”"

Asking him about what advice he could possibly give to new Sea Dubs head coach Aaron Miles, Hill said he didn’t really have much advice to give from a coaching standpoint; rather, his initial conversation with Miles was simply regarding how great the community can be.

"“When we spoke, I explained how unique the Santa Cruz environment is,” Hill said. “Knowing that I was moving on and understanding [how great it is] to get a chance to get that job, I tried to explain to him how important to keep continuing that relationship was, and he understood right away.”“I told him it’d take him a second to get kinda used to Santa Cruz because it’s a little different, but that once he did, he’d fall in love with it.”"

With returning players such as Alex Hamilton, Cleanthony Early and James Southerland still with Santa Cruz, Hill admit that one of the reasons he knows his successor has been doing a good job is because he still continues to keep an eye on his former players, with whom he’s shared many memories.

When asked about what his favorite memory was as a coach in Santa Cruz, Hill said that his favorite recollection is still the moment he and his team won the D-League championship.

"“Winning that championship meant a whole lot considering the things that we went through that season,” Hill stated. “Some of the development that we were able to accomplish that season, how hard the staff worked — that was a really special year for us.”"

Searching his memory further, Hill also recalled the very first game he spent as an assistant coach at KP Arena, in which some “technical difficulties” led to an amazingly hilarious situation at the start of the game.

"“Opening Night, first night ever when I was an assistant — they had the fireworks in the arena…there was smoke in the air — the guys were coughing for like, the first three minutes of the game,” said Hill, laughing. “I will never forget that. Just the energy that was in that gym — it was…just amazing.”“And one of the most amazing things to me was not just the energy that night, but that energy was replicated every single night in that arena — and it still is,” Hill continued. “I am so blessed to have been a part of that for that past five years.”"

Casey Hill and the Agua Caliente Clippers will play visitor to the Santa Cruz Warriors at Kaiser Permanente Arena this Saturday on the second night of a back-to-back. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. PDT.