Bob Ociepka (born 1949 in Chicago, Illinois) is an NBA assistant coach for the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. He has served as coach within the NBA for eighteen seasons.
Ociepka is a native of Chicago, Illinois and played college basketball at Quincy College. He is considered one of the best prep coaches in Chicago Catholic League history and head-coached Gordon Tech and York High Schools in the early 1980s. In 2000, he was inducted into the Chicago Catholic League Hall of Fame for his contribution to prep sports.[1]
While coaching high school basketball, Ociepka served as a part-time volunteer scout for the Detroit Pistons in the 1980s. He was the head coach at York High School in Elmhurst, IL for four years during this time.
He was first hired as an assistant coach in 1989 for the Indiana Pacers. Ociepka has also served as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers from 1993 to 1996, the Philadelphia 76ers from 1996 to 1997, the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1999 to 2001, the Detroit Pistons from 1998 to 1999 and again from 2001 to 2003, the Milwaukee Bucks from 2003 to 2006, and the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2007 to 2008.[2]
Ociepka also served as an advance scout during the 1998 season for the Orlando Magic.[3]
From 2008 to 2010, Ociepka was an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls and rookie head coach Vinny Del Negro.[1] In 2010, following Del Negro's firing from the Bulls, Ociepka was hired as an assistant for the Portland Trail Blazers.[4]
During his time in the NBA, Ociepka has also written two insightful books on basketball strategies. Basketball Playbook: Plays From the Pros was published in 1995 and Basketball Playbook 2: More Plays from the Pros was published in 2001.[2]
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