The New Orleans Pelicans have officially hired former assistant coach of the Houston Rockets Jeff Bzdelik. It was announced Friday in a team press release that he was named associate head coach over the defense, the same position he held in Houston.
Bzdelik and the Pelicans have been linked since early July, but are just now formally hiring him to man the defense. He’ll get a chance to help out the team’s great young talent, including No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson, on that end of the court.
The Rockets decided to part ways with the 66-year-old Bzdelik this offseason in an effort to shake up the assistant coaching staff beneath head coach Mike D’Antoni.
Bzdelik was with Houston in 2016-17 and 2017-18 but then temporarily retired to begin last season, before being brought out of retirement after a tough start to the year by the Rockets.
Bzdelik garnered a ton of praise for defensive improvements made during his first two years with the Rockets, seeing them peak with the NBA’s No. 6 defense in 2017-18 on their way to a near-Finals appearance. In the 2015-16 season, which preceded Bzdelik’s arrival in Hosuton, the team ranked just No. 22 in the league.
Last season, though, the defense was never quite the same, even after Bzdelik returned. It got better as the year went along, but the Rockets still finished with only the No. 18 defense overall. That’s one reason why Houston decided not to bring him back for the 2019-20 season.
It will be interesting to monitor how the team performs on that end of the court next year under new defensive coach Elston Turner.
