Grizzlies Assistant Coaches

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Jeff Bzdelik enters his first  season as an assistant coach on Dave Joerger’s staff, bringing over 30 years of  experience, including 17 in the NBA, to the Grizzlies sidelines.
  Bzdelik notably worked seven  years under NBA Hall of Famer Pat Riley, starting as a scout for the New York  Knicks (1994-95) and becoming an assistant coach and advance scout for the  Miami Heat (1995-2001). Miami made the NBA Playoffs in all six seasons with  Bzdelik on staff, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1997. He was  named by Sports Illustrated as the  NBA’s best advance scout in 1997 and selected by USA Today as one of the league’s top five assistants in 2000.

Hired by the Denver Nuggets  in 2001, Bzdelik spent two-plus seasons as Denver’s head coach (2002-04) and in  his second season guided the Nuggets to a 26-win turnaround and a berth in the  2004 NBA Playoffs, the franchise’s first trip to the postseason in nine years.

We caught up with Coach Bzdelik after practice. Find out more about him:

You  hold the single-season record for free throws made (88.1%) at the University of  Chicago-Illinois where you graduated in ’76. Do you have any mantras, tips or  words of advice for Grizzlies players or Grizzlies fans heading to the charity  stripe this season?

PERFECT DAILY PRACTICE gives one the confidence and  trust to have a great chance for success and making free throws is no  exception.

You’ve  scouted in New York, coached in Miami, and went to college in Chicago. What’s  your favorite city of the three and why?

Professionally, Miami is my favorite of the three  because of the success we had. But, from strictly a personal view, it would be  Chicago because of family.

You  were once voted by Sports Illustrated as the NBA’s best advance scout by league  GMs (1998). What do you think made you such a good scout?

Winning an NBA championship was always the goal with  Pat Riley and our team. My role was to have our team be the best prepared team  in the NBA and I took great pride in my job.

What  is one of your best memories working with Pat Riley?

Winning, learning and being part of a team that  exhibited great pride.

You  played basketball at UIC and your wife was a standout volleyball player there.  Can it be assumed you met at UIC? Were you able to pick up any volleyball  skills?

One day a stray volleyball appeared on our practice  court and I happened to notice a cute blonde in volleyball shorts… From then on  I had a special interest in volleyball!

Well actually, that took a while because she turned  me down several times to go out. But I stayed the course and we will celebrate  our 39th anniversary in a few days!

Do  either of your children play basketball or volleyball?

Neither of our children played basketball or volleyball.  My son played rugby and golf and my daughter was a gymnast and dancer.

Memphis  seems to be your first stint in the real south, what are you most looking  forward to about living in “The South?”

I’m looking forward to hopefully a mild winter… I do  not like cold weather!

Do  you have any hobbies that aren’t basketball related?

In  2008, you visited military personnel and bases with the USO in an endeavor  called “Operation Hoop Talk: Talking Hoops with the Troops.” What was your best  memory there?

There were many memories. Maybe even too many to list  here. But probably most vivid in my mind still to this day were the faces of  the wounded, the willingness from all to accept their role to make sure the  mission is accomplished, and the bravery exhibited to sacrifice their own  welfare for a greater cause (that being our freedom). In other words, it is the  spirit of our military personnel that I remember most.

Do  you think you’ll still watch a lot of college hoops now that you’re a full-time  NBA coach?

I love the NBA – I don’t not like college basketball.  I only left the NBA after my stop with the Denver Nuggets for a family health  issue and now that is behind us, I am excited and grateful to be back in the  NBA.

You  have an interesting last name, can you tell us your familial background, and  tell fans how to correctly say, “Bzdelik?”

It’s Slovak and it’s pronounced (BUZZ dell ICK).

get-to-know-grizzlies-assistant-coach-jeff-bzdelik

Get to know Grizzlies Assistant Coach Jeff Bzdelik

As the countdown to the 2014/15 Grizzlies Regular Season continues, it's a great time for Grizz Nation to get to know the great Grizzlies coaching staff. We sat down recently with Grizzlies Assistant Coach Bob Thornton to find out more about the man behind 30 years of basketball experience as a player, scout and coach.

Bob Thornton is entering his fourth season with the Grizzlies. Thornton previously served four seasons (2007-11) as an advance scout for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Thornton has served as an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls (2002-04) and Minnesota Timberwolves (2005-07) and has head coaching experience with the NBA Development League’s Huntsville Flight (2001-02) and the Continental Basketball Association’s (CBA) Quad City Thunder (2000-01).
Drafted by the New York Knicks in the fourth round (87th overall) of the 1984 NBA Draft, Thornton played 11 professional seasons, including eight in the NBA (1985-92, 1995-96) for the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz and Washington Bullets.

Getting to know Assistant  Coach Bob ThorntonWe’ve heard you’re quite the BBQ master – would  you care to share one of your special seasonings or your favorite cut of meat?

I  love to grill and cook, but I am only a humble backyard amateur… I do love trying  all the wonderful BBQ we have in Memphis.

You’re also a registered pilot. What is your  favorite kind of plane to fly?

Flying  is a great passion of mine and I love to fly any type of airplane. If I had to  choose from past experience so far my favorite is the Extra 300, a high  performance aerobatic airplane.

Have you ever had a scary experience while  flying yourself? If so, what happened?

The  longer you fly, the more chance there is of possibly experiencing something  unusual.  One challenging experience I  had was on a checkout flight in a Cessna 182RG. The hydraulic hose to the  landing gear burst while we were lowering the gear for landing. To make a long  story short, after finishing our emergency checklist we did a couple tower fly-bys  to make sure we had all three gear down then went around a final time for  landing. Turns out we had enough pressure in the lines to lock the gear in  place and a safe landing followed shortly afterwards. It was a great learning  experience.

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Get to know Grizzlies Assistant Coach Bob Thornton

As the countdown to the 2014/15 Grizzlies Regular Season continues, it's a great time for Grizz Nation to get to know the great Grizzlies Coaching staff. Let's start with Grizzlies Assistant Coach Elston Turner.

Known in league circles for coaching defense on offensively-minded ball clubs, Turner joins the Grizzlies as the lead assistant with 17 seasons of experience as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns (2011-13), Houston Rockets (2007-11), Sacramento Kings (2000-06) and Portland Trail Blazers (1996-00). Turner served as the lead assistant for Phoenix after spending six seasons in the same role in Houston under current Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Rick Adelman.  He also worked under Adelman in Sacramento, where he was a part of two Western Conference All-Star coaching staffs (2001, 2003), and Portland.

You played basketball at Ole Miss from 1977-81. Do you make it down to Oxford for any basketball or football games?

Coach Turner: I plan on going to more events this season and in the future. I came to the Grizzlies late last year and we started our season soon after I got to Memphis so I didn’t have much free time and both Ole Miss and the Grizz schedules must fit to allow me to see some games.

You also teamed with current Grizzlies broadcaster Sean Tuohy to take the Rebels to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1981. What was he like in college?

Coach Turner: He was the Basketball Quarterback for our team. He was very smart and very much a team-player first. He also didn’t mind going to a party or two in his free time either!

After 14 years of working for the offensive-minded Rick Adelman, how different is it working for a defensive-driven team?

Coach Turner: Not different at all. We always preached and taught defense on every team that I’ve been a part of.  Rick just had a system that had some player freedom and played at a tempo that would allow his teams to score. But people forget we also led the NBA in defense in 2002, and we were No. 2 in Defense in 2007, and No. 4 in 2008, etc. But once you get a reputation of being offensive, that’s only what people remember.

Your son, Elston Jr., was a guard at Texas A&amp;M - what’s your greatest memory of your son’s basketball career?

Coach Turner: My best memory of my son was his 40-point performance against Kentucky at Rupp Arena, giving coach Calipari his first loss at home and the Kentucky fans gave him a standing ovation when he was taken out of the game at the end. That 40 points had only been done by two other players in Rupp Arena history and they are David Robinson and Chris Jackson. That’s good company! Wow, it took me four years to score a total of 40 points in that arena!

Which would you rather watch – NFL or NCAA football?

I love them both. I just want to see a good, competitive sporting event.

We hear that your hometown of Knoxville is slated as quite the town for “foodies.”  So with that, if fans are traveling to Knoxville for a game where should they eat?

Coach Turner: You can go to any restaurant and get good food in Knoxville but you MUST wash it down with that good ole East Tennessee Moonshine!

If you were to take your wife and daughter out to dinner in Memphis, where would you take them?

Coach Turner: We like all kinds of food. We love BBQ, and we love steaks.  My wife and daughter love sushi at Osaka. We are still looking for a good Cajun and Mexican restaurant though. Maybe someone can help us out with that?

What is your favorite vacation spot during the offseason?

Coach Turner: We “try” to take a vacation in a different spot every summer. To this point the best vacation spot we’ve gone to has been Aruba by far. Nice beaches, fresh air, good music, friendly people and good food!!

Who was your biggest idol when you were growing up?

What advice would you give to aspiring athletes or students who want to get into coaching?

Coach Turner: My best advice would be to take a class in psychology and also a class in conflict resolution which is much needed in any sport as well as everyday life.

What was your favorite memory in your professional career?

Coach Turner: Winning division titles and playing in conference championships AND coaching the West in two All-Star Games!

What was your favorite memory from your first year with the Grizzlies?

Winning the game that clinched us a playoff spot was a great feeling and also the four overtime games in the playoff series with OKC. I have never been a part of games that have been that close before.

Coach Turner: My daughter played all the way up to high school. She does not play any sport right now in college.

Coach Turner: We met in Dallas in 1983. We happened to both be at a function at the same time and I went over to her and started a conversation and we both enjoyed it. And we’ve been conversating ever since!

get-to-know-grizzlies-assistant-coach-elston-turner

Get to know Grizzlies Assistant Coach Elston Turner

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