The Houston Rockets have let go associate head coach Jeff Bzedlik, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The 66-year-old has a tenured coaching career and was the head coach for the Denver Nuggets for about two seasons before being fired in 2004.
Bzedlik first joined the Rockets in 2016, hired by newly-hired head coach Mike D’Antoni. He was essentially handed the keys to revamping the Rockets’ defensive scheme — and he did so immediately.
Right before training camp began in the 2018-19 season, Bzdelik announced his retirement. But then a short time later in November, he signed a deal to work as the Rockets’ defensive coordinator for the rest of the season as the team was struggling.
“I can’t think of a man in the NBA that has more experience, more knowledge, more wisdom about how to defend in the contemporary game today, than Jeff. I was just always impressed with his scouting reports. He was very detailed. Very neat. Things were logical and coherent. He had all the right calls. We knew what the other team was gonna run,” Hall of Fame coach and executive Pat Riley told VICE Sports in April 2018.
The Rockets went from 21st to 16th in defensive rating during Bzdelik’s first season. Then, in the 2017-18 season, the Rockets won a franchise record 65 games thanks in large part to their 6th ranked defense.
This past season, the team dropped down to 17th in defensive rating, and the team struggled with defending the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Semifinals, ultimately leading to the end of their season.
