Head coach Aaron Miles reflects on a tough first season with the Santa Cruz Warriors.
It can be tough being a rookie in any professional sport, but considering what former Golden State Warriors guard Aaron Miles went through in his first season coaching the Santa Cruz Warriors, I’d argue there’s no tougher setting for a first-year head coach than the NBA G League.
The main focus of the G League is to develop young basketball players and give them a platform to hopefully catch the eye of a major league team. At times, the G League is also used to experiment with possible rule changes or additions.
What this creates is a tumultuous environment for those who manage G League teams, most especially the coaches. Not only does the staff need to be familiar with new rules and be prepared to effectively utilize the tools specific to the G League, but they constantly have to deal with a fluctuating roster that could possibly change night to night.
Miles is no stranger to the suddenness of G League roster alterations. In addition to injuries and the back-and-forth situation with Damian Jones, Quinn Cook and Chris Boucher, the Santa Cruz Warriors had three players called up over the course of the year, each call-up occurring at a different, pivotal point in the season.
First, Antonius Cleveland was called up shortly after the start of the year, signing a two-way contract with the Dallas Mavericks. Although it didn’t strike a severe blow to the overall integrity of the roster, Santa Cruz lost a solid sixth man candidate in Cleveland.
Then came the George Niang call-up in January , which actually did strike a significant blow to the roster. The Utah Jazz ended up signing Niang to a two-way contract in the middle of the G League season, taking away Santa Cruz’s second-highest scorer and second-best playmaker.
The Sea Dubs quickly went from the one of the best teams in the West to a team struggling to stay above .500. Then at the end of the year, Damion Lee was called up to sign a 10-day contract with the Atlanta Hawks, serving as the metaphorical nail in the coffin for Santa Cruz.
Thus, for the second time in Santa Cruz Warriors history, the team finished completely out of playoff contention with a regular season win/loss record of 23-27.
Coach Miles, however, likes to keep his glass half full.
“I think he’s going to be a tremendous coach, in this league, and in the NBA, eventually.” – Kent Lacob
“You know what? I’m glad I’ve gone through it. It has not been easy dealing with all that, but I think I’m fortunate to have a great staff that helped me through things and the great management that helped me, but it wasn’t easy,” said Miles.
“For me, I’m just so happy for the guys who have had that opportunity to get the call-up….”
Aside from learning how to adjust and respond to the ever-changing nature of the G League, Miles also discussed the challenge as a young coach of managing the different personalities on the roster, as well as the rotation.
“In this league, you’re really trying to figure out how to manage these different personalities, these different egos, trying to manage minutes,” Miles said. “Because you want to give everyone the opportunity to really go out there and showcase themselves because that’s what it’s about.”
“Like I said — I’m glad I’ve been going through it and learning. There’s some things that I will do differently next year. I think there’s things I’ve learned that will help me grow as a coach, as a man and as a leader. So it’s all been beneficial — the goods, the bads, the uglies, everything.”
Santa Cruz Warriors general manager, Kent Lacob, also believes the multitude of problems the team had to endure over the course of the 2017-18 season have only better prepared Miles for the journey ahead.
“What him and his staff went through this season was even more than a typical G League season as far as having to put out a different lineup every night — not based on choice, but based on necessity — and having to constantly adjust and adapt to adversity,” said Lacob. “I think this being his first season, it’s going to get easier from here.”
“What’s great about it is you couldn’t ask for a better environment to go through all that and have a better learning experience to grow as a head coach. He’s gonna be so well prepared for next season, as far as: there will be nothing he hasn’t seen and very few situations he hasn’t had…that will be a surprise to him.”
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Lacob stated that he’s excited to see Miles and his staff continue to grow, mentioning that Miles has new things he wants to implement into his coaching style after using the past year to figure out his identity as a coach.
“I think he’s going to be a tremendous coach, in this league, and in the NBA, eventually,” Lacob said.