Bob Hill refers to his home in San Antonio as "a little slice of heaven," which is a little strange because it's also a place where he's constantly reminded of his biggest failure in basketball and how great his coaching career might have been if not for Gregg Popovich.

"It was what it was," Hill said Monday as his Sonics prepared for tonight's game at San Antonio, which is not only a rematch of last year's Western Conference semifinalists but his first visit as a head coach since being fired by then-president Popovich 10 years ago.

"It's over. I don't think I'm going to feel anything. There's no players on the team that I coached. David [Robinson] will be in the stands, but that's it."

Hill has harbored a deep resentment toward Popovich, whom he believes unfairly terminated his employment and maligned his reputation in the NBA.

"I just know him too well," Hill said. "I know what he's like behind closed doors. I've been in lots and lots of meetings with him. The only way he can justify what he did was to create all this deception that I was some kind of ... monster. That I was hard to work with or whatever ... and they were all lies."

It still baffles Hill that he was fired after guiding San Antonio to a league-best 62-20 record during the 1994-95 season and 59 wins the next season. He doesn't mention that he inherited a team that won 55 games or that the Spurs failed to advance past the Western Conference finals under his guidance.

It still burns at Hill that he was fired after starting the 1996-97 season with a 3-15 record even though several players were out because of injuries, including Robinson, who played six games that season after aggravating a back injury.