Former Denver Nuggets coach retires

Former Denver Nuggets coach retires.

In a previous article it was noted that Denver’s defense would determine how far Denver would go next season. Also noted in that article was the role Jeff Bzdelik played in Houston’s massive improvement on the defensive end.

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What never got mentioned was Jeff Bzdelik’s stint as head coach of the Denver Nuggets for about two years. Admittedly, things never went quite as well in Denver as they did last year in Houston.

However, Jeff’s legacy with the Denver Nuggets, whilst definitely short lived, will almost certainly be defined by one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history.

In Jeff Bzdelik’s first year as head coach, the Denver Nuggets only won a mere 17 games. However, the following year, in one foul swoop the Denver Nuggets bounced back to win 43 games and make the playoffs. Back then coach Bzdelik remarked:

"“We’re first in forcing turnovers, second in points allowed, third in rebounding, sixth in steals…but we’re dead last in scoring.”“In his first season, Bzdelik earned NBA-wide praise for Denver’s competitiveness, work ethic and never-give-up attitude. Despite having the NBA’s youngest team in franchise history, Bzdelik’s team shattered the franchise record for scoring defense by more than 5 points per game, giving up only 92.4 per outing. In addition the Nuggets led the league in turnovers forced (17.1 per game) and has 6 of the top 12 marks for single-season scoring defense.” (https://cubuffs.com/coaches.aspx?rc=627)"

But alas, despite the historic high of Bzdelik’s sophomore year. Jeff Bzdelik tenure as Denver Nuggets head coach (and in general) came to an end the very next season. With then GM Kiki Vandeweghe firing Jeff with less than 30 games into the season with a 13 – 15 record.

As we all can admit, hindsight is 20/20 and it’s easy to point out errors after the fact. Moreover, perhaps Kiki was privy to information unknown to most. Or maybe coach Bzdelik had simply lost the ears and or respect of his team. Making his replacement unavoidable. However, respect is a two way street. The absence of security, contract-wise, for Bzdelik may have limited coach Bzdelik’s authority in the eyes of his players.

After all, if the GM or owner is unwilling to put their money where their mouth is by giving the coach a reasonable contract. Perhaps that makes the players less likely to take on board the coach’s message.

Moreover, it wouldn’t be the first time a franchise prematurely gave up on a coach, only for said coach to have subsequent success elsewhere. Although a player as opposed to a coach, Isaiah Thomas would probably agree as much. Nevertheless, today is a new day. True for the Denver Nuggets who are expected to trend up in the new season. It is also a new day for former Denver Nuggets head coach, Jeff Bzdelik. Not only did he help the Denver Nuggets end a playoff drought going back to the 1994-95 in the 2003-04 season. In the last playoffs, he helped the Houston Rockets get respectably close to upsetting one of the greatest ever teams in NBA history.

Now, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN coach Bzdelik is doing his best Kobe impression and going out if not on top, on a very high, high.

For all of the above, not to mention what coach Bzdelik has done in Denver at the collegiate level, we thank and pay our dues to coach Jeff Bzdelik.