Rillie: 'No one’s expectations are greater than mine'

By Tom Hersz.

There are high pressure jobs in professional basketball and then there is being the Head Coach of the Perth Wildcats. A franchise with a big and passionate fanbase, who have been spoiled with success over the past 35-plus years.

That fanbase, ‘the Red Army’, has expectations that start and end with winning a championship each year and anything less can be seen as a failure. So, when the Wildcats (under new ownership and management) missed the post-season in 2021 for the first time in 35 years, the Red Army was none-too-pleased.

Since then, despite returning to the post-season and being one win away from a Championship Series appearance the last two seasons, there has been a lot of outside noise from both the local media and the fanbase about the job their latest coach, John Rillie, is doing since he took over in 2022.

So how much attention does Rillie pay to that noise?

“Zero,” he told NBL Media in an exclusive interview on Monday. That’s just not how Rillie is wired.

As a player, Rillie was a competitor. He was determined, he was skilled, he was a little brash at times but could always back it up with his play, and he did what was needed to help his team win. A veteran of 481 NBL games across 16 seasons, with career averages of 16.3 points, 3.7 assists, 5.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 2.8 made threes per game at basically a 40 per cent clip, Rillie is one of the best shooting guards this league has seen in the last 30 years.

He made four All-NBL teams, led the league in scoring one season, won Rookie of the Year and helped Adelaide to a championship in 1998. He’s scored 45 points in a game twice and was the first player ever to hit 10 three-pointers in a Finals game, ironically in Perth.

“No one was going to outwork me. And I prided myself on being the best in shape player,” he explained of his playing days.

And he carries a lot of that with him as a coach today.

“But what the biggest difference is there, is when you're working to be the best and the best in shape and all of that, you're only worried about one person,” he said.

“Where now I'm responsible for a team, a coaching staff, a strength and conditioning staff, front office people. So, it's a different mentality and approach to that.”

Before taking the Wildcats job, Rillie spent a decade in the US Collegiate system as an assistant coach, both at Boise State and UC Santa Barbara. He was also an assistant with the Boomers at the Tokyo Olympics. In those roles he learned different approaches to coaching, how to work with players, how to structure practices and how to manage a group to try to bring everyone together.

He also learned that no matter how good a coach you are, you have to have talent to be able to contend.

“You need good players to win big games,” admitted Rillie.

“You know, you need buy-in from the players, but then also, you need really good players to win at the highest level.

“Now in saying that, the word I use is collaboration because every coach has a vision for a player. Every player has their vision for themselves. So, you have to find the middle ground or the ground where everyone feels like we’re pushing towards something in the same area.”

Rillie played for some tremendous coaches during his playing career.

As a rookie, he played under Bruce Palmer in Brisbane who he thinks has fallen under the radar as far as how good a coach he was. In Adelaide, Mike Dunlap taught Rillie attention to detail on and off the court, like looking after yourself properly and what strength and conditioning meant. Phil Smyth took over in Adelaide and allowed guys to play with a free spirit within a structure, which led to a championship that year.

Rillie then moved to West Sydney and played under Gordie McLeod for six years. They made it to the Grand Final two years straight and Rillie credits McLeod’s approach and the belief he had in his players for that success.

He signed with Townsville specifically to play for Ian Stacker, where Rillie learned structure and also a focus on individual skill development in addition to team training, before Trevor Gleeson took over with a bit more of a ‘my way or the highway’ style.

“You take a little bit of good and bad from everyone, even if they were coaches you really enjoyed playing for,” Rillie explained.

“I often reflect on moments where they might've dealt with a player and you felt like, ‘oh, that could have probably been handled differently.’

“But throughout my career, I played for some really good coaches. So, you take a little bit of everyone.

“But the guy that I actually really reflect on the most, is my college coach, Dan Fitzgerald. Just the connection he had with the players, and it really didn't matter who you were on the roster.

“He just had an ability to make sure you felt like you were a part of the program, or have a touch point with every player, every day. Whether it was for a minute or whether it was for ten minutes.

“And that just lives in my brain.”

When Rillie was interviewing with GM Danny Mills about the Perth job, he was well aware of the expectations and profile of the club. With the biggest fanbase of any NBL club and their history of success, there is a lot that comes with that.

Rillie had never been a head coach before, but he never had any hesitation in diving head-first into such a high-pressure role. Quite the opposite actually.

“No, that's part of the appeal,” he said.

“You know, like back to your original question, am I going to listen to myself or am I going to listen to everyone else? You know?”

Mills already had pressure on him externally given his first season at the helm was the first time Perth had missed the post-season in 35 years. He had hired Scott Morrison to take over from Trevor Gleeson, and while it was not a bad season by any stretch, it did not meet expectations.

Rillie acknowledges that Morrison was unlucky. They won 16 games which may be one of the best records ever to not make the Finals. But they had a good team and Mills was looking for someone to take it over when Morrison had to leave for family reasons.

Rillie and Mills had an established relationship and rapport from when Rillie was a College Assistant and Mills was Director of Scouting for the Philadelphia 76ers. They were on the same page about how the roster should change and how to build on what Morrison had done.

“So then to come in, take over from that, obviously the roster and the franchise had had such great recent success,” Rillie explained.

“There was that level of expectation and, you know, sport in general, it's hard to continue that ongoing success. And that's where I'm just like, ‘I have to stay with what I believe and how we're going to navigate through that’.

“So that's where my experience in the professional ranks for so long, you’ve just got to trust what you are doing.”

After so many years playing professionally under great coaches and working as an assistant, Rillie has his own coaching philosophies and they’re admittedly pretty simple.

And if you listen to any of his post-game press conferences, you’ll hear him talk about these quite often, as he did on Sunday after their narrow loss to South East Melbourne.

Rebound and don't turn it over.

“Rebounding forgives a lot of sins,” he explained.

“Like, even if you play the best offensive team, they're going to miss at least half of their shots, no matter how good your defence is. And then on the other end, if you don't turn it over and you're getting a shot up and you're rebounding with tenacity, you’re going to keep yourself involved. That’s just simple.

“Now, defensively [we] want to be man to man, making teams shoot tough shots; just be disciplined at that end of the floor. And then offensively, we want to be free flowing, move the ball, just be a good teammate and make the right play.”

When his teams the last three seasons have done those things, they’ve looked really good. The last two seasons, they’ve made it to game three of the Playoffs and in NBL25, they were one possession away from advancing to the Championship Series.

So, despite the rumblings from the Red Army, it is clear that Rillie has not only established himself as a successful professional head coach, but he’s returned the Wildcats to contending for championships.

But that does not mean that for even one second, he’s satisfied with what he’s achieved.

“No matter what anyone else's expectation is, they're never going to be greater than mine,” said Rillie.

“What I hope is we put in the steps throughout the season where once we get into February, March, we give ourselves a chance to play and contend for a title. So, I think we've done a fantastic job of giving ourselves opportunities to make and compete for a championship.

“Even my first year, we went into South East (Melbourne Phoenix), beat them on the road. Went up to Cairns, we didn't play good enough to win that game. But by the end of the year, I think against the top three teams, we were 6-3 on the season.

“So, that's where I really reflect, you know, how do we do against the teams that you really have to compete against to win a title? And are you in their wheelhouse? That's what I use the regular season for, so when we get to the pointy end, we're more than capable of winning it.”

Of course, the team he had the last three seasons looks a little different this year. With Bryce Cotton departing, this presented Mills and Rillie a great challenge. But it’s one that Rillie has relished in how to re-build this roster and the offensive structure to remain competitive in the post-Cotton era. And he wasted no time in getting to work.

“The minute I knew Bryce wasn't coming back to our franchise, that's where you have to go, ‘Well, how do you move forward? How do you get through this?’

“So, it is a great challenge and something that as a competitor you look forward to. But I think I was the only coach outside the NBA that had to figure out how to recoup 28 points a night.”

To start with, who were they going to retain? It was a deliberate choice to ensure that they had some cohesion, especially with imports.

Kristian Doolittle extended for three more years right after the season ended and Dylan Windler followed suit for two more years soon after.

“In my time as a player and as a coach in this league, if you find imports that you really enjoy being around and are good players [keep them], instead of thinking that you can get better or you need something different.

“And like with Doolittle and with Windler, very good players, great people. I enjoy coaching them. So, if we're going to push through, we need some people around that we understand and trust, and they know what we're about. So that was important.

“And then, we've got a nice cast of young players. But you know, in this league, it's really hard, to win at a consistent and high level when you're leaning on a core of young players every night.”

Perth ultimately also recruited veterans in Sunday Dech and Lat Mayen, brought back Ben Henshall and Elijah Pepper and then landed Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. late in free agency as a marquee cornerstone to build around.

They’ve started the season with five wins and five losses, with four of those wins coming on the road. Injuries have played a small part with Windler and Dech missing time, while a recent import change has brought in David Duke Jr. to replace Mason Jones.

One early and possibly unexpected bright spot has been the play of one of their development players, who just happens to be Rillie’s son, Jaron. The younger Rillie has impressed with his ability to impact games. He led the league in plus-minus early on and has taken on quite a prominent role, even starting the last four games.

His Dad though, had a feeling he’d have an impact because of the type of player he is.

“I thought he would be a really good piece because, just having been around him, he understands how to fit in with good players,” Rillie explained.

“And, like a couple of years ago, Hyrum Harris came to us and ended up being a starter and being a really key piece to a team that finished second.

“So, that's where he's been able to come in, fit in, guys can see his value. But now, his game’s evolving in the opportunities that present itself in the game.”

That’s also brought a different challenge that Rillie has had to face this season though. Separating being coach from being Dad. The two could easily be co-mingled if Rillie wasn’t careful, but he knows he owes it to Jaron to make sure that’s not the case.

“I have to be mindful of when it's father versus coach,” he admitted.

“And that's probably like outside hours, just being mindful of not talking basketball, or thinking that I need to correct something that I just watched on film when I left the office. You know, unless he wants to talk about it.

“So, when we do talk, it's meaningful and it's just not white noise as a parent, like it can get sometimes.

“But in saying that, we both embrace and enjoy basketball. It's our life. So, I do try and find the balance, but when it has been such a huge part of our life, it's gonna be a heavy topic of conversation most times.”

Of course, a topic of conversation among many a Wildcats fan is how Rillie conducts himself. Why does he always seem so stern and uncompromising? Is he the right coach for Perth? Is he playing the right players? And can he lead the Wildcats to a championship?

Spend any time around him and you’ll soon probably realise that the perception of John Rillie doesn’t match the reality. Watching him pace the sidelines with arms folded for two hours or listening to him in a press conference in the heat of the moment post-game is not a true reflection of the person he is. But it may be a true reflection of how much he puts into his craft and how much he wants to win.

So, is Rillie aware of how he’s perceived?

“How am I perceived? I would say intense, sometimes angry,” he acknowledged.

“Would I change anything? Absolutely not. When people get to know me, they understand what I'm about.

“This is the point I come back to all the time. I've made it work for 31 years. No one understands what that is. If someone else in the room can stand and say, ‘I've made it work for 31 years’; they don't understand that until you've been in it. And that's the thing.

“When people see me away from the game night, they understand I'm passionate, but I'm actually a very mindful person when it comes to everything. But when my livelihood depends on it and I see people not giving me the effort that my livelihood is dependent on, that's when I have a problem.”

When I tell Rillie that makes a lot of sense, because I think he’s misperceived or misunderstood, he continues.

“You might be right. Because I've had players come to the franchise or they'll spend time around me and they'll be like, ‘Man, you’re totally different.’

“But I also come back to, people say they want to win. There's winning and there's pretending you want to win. And it’s a fine line, no doubt about that. But, it’s our livelihood.

“And you talked about how we’ve been to the semi-finals two years in a row, do you think I get the credit? My resumé is my resumé, that’s what I’ll say.”

As for the outside noise or lack of appreciation for what he’s achieved and how he coaches?

“I actually love that shit. Like I embrace it. I love it because that's what I'm about,” he said.

“Like take my playing career. You pull up all-time statistics in any category. Tell me how many players have matched that?”

The answer to question, by the way, is ‘not many'. And Rillie knows that.

“So, I’m okay going about my coaching career the same way,” he adds.

Just like he was as a player, Rillie the coach is determined, hard-working, sometimes a little brash, but he’s having a positive impact and two Playoffs appearances in his first three years is evidence of that.

This season could be better, but there have been a lot of hurdles to overcome already between players coming in late, some injuries, having to re-build slightly post Cotton and replacing an import.

Despite all of that, the Wildcats are currently fifth, trailing Sydney only by percentage. So almost a third of the way through the regular season, Rillie remains positive about their trajectory and their ability to contend for the championship.

“I really like our group,” he said.

“I had no previous relationship with Jo, but his dedication and what he's about, just not as a player, but being back in Perth and all of that has been tremendous. And, what he's doing with our young guys, taking his own accountability with everything is, for a head coach, really pleasing to see.

“As far as our young guys, just keep developing them, so when we do get on the biggest stage, they are ready to go and seize that moment.

“And two of our last losses, Illawarra and Southeast have been really close games. We haven't won, but our guys get to feel what that's about. So that's really important when you're trying to climb the mountain.

“Adding Duke during the season, it poses its challenge, but he's done a great job at coming in, acclimating with the team and then on the flip side, the team embracing him. And I think even in the small sample size against South East, you can see he's going to add a level of athleticism on the perimeter that our team lacks, but you need in this league.”

Rillie likes his group. His group likes him. And that’s all that really matters to him when he’s trying to win.

The rest is just noise, and he doesn’t even hear it.