It’s still unknown whether Pelicans’ head coach Alvin Gentry, 65, will be able to accompany his players to Orlando for the NBA restart.
What we do know: Pelicans’ associate head coach Jeff Bzdelik, 67, will not join the team due to underlying health concerns. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN broke the story.
New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach Jeff Bzdelik, 67, won’t be joining the team in Orlando, his agent Warren LeGarie tells ESPN. The organization is supportive of the decision.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2020
Bzdelik is known as a defensive specialist, one who helped turn the Rockets defense around a couple of years back with a switching scheme. While the Pelicans defense was not sharp early in the season as the team battled through injuries, they were a top 10 defense after the All-Star break.
After negotiations by the NBA Coaches Association, coaches cannot be blocked from travel to Orlando based on their age alone. There must be other underlying factors. That appears to be the case with Bzdelik.
Bzdelik was the head coach of the Denver Nuggets for three years and has been an assistant coach for a number of teams.
The loss of Bzdelik hurts, but it becomes exponentially more difficult for the Pelicans if Gentry is not the head coach. Where does that stand? “I have no idea, I really don’t,” Gentry said in a conference call with reporters this week. He added he plans on coaching, but the decision on whether he can attend is not his.
The Pelicans are not alone, the Lakers will not have assistant coach Lionel Hollins on the bench either.
New Orleans enters the restart with the best chance of any team in the West to finish with the nine seed and force a play-in series with Memphis (that series is two games, the Pelicans would have to win both). While New Orleans is in a virtual logjam with Portland, Sacramento, and San Antonio, it is the Pelicans who have the easiest schedule.
And, Zion Williamson looks ripped and ready.
