HoopsHype.com Rumors

Chris Haynes: Former #Blazers assistant, Bob Ociepka, now a Clippers assistant, told me he has Jamal Crawford playing defense now. We shall see. Twitter @ChrisBHaynes

Los Angeles Clippers, Bob Ociepka, Jamal Crawford 

The Los Angeles Clippers today announced that they have hired long-time NBA coach Bob Ociepka to serve as an assistant coach on Vinny Del Negro’s staff for the 2012-13 season. NBA.com

Los Angeles Clippers, Vinny Del Negro, Coaching, Bob Ociepka 

Ociepka, 63, has worked in the NBA for 22 years and brings over 30 years of coaching experience to the Clippers sideline. The Chicago native returns to Los Angeles for his second stint with the Clippers after serving as an assistant coach from 1993-96 under Bob Weiss and Bill Fitch. Ociepka was an assistant coach for Del Negro with the Chicago Bulls from 2008-10. NBA.com

Los Angeles Clippers, Vinny Del Negro, Coaching, Bob Ociepka 

Dan Woike: #Clippers hire veteran assistant Bob Ociepka to replace Dean Demopoulos, presumably Twitter

Los Angeles Clippers, Vinny Del Negro, Coaching, Dean Demopoulos, Bob Ociepka 

Madelyn Burke: #Clippers coaching staff now stands: Vinny Del Negro (HC), Marc Iavaroni, Robert Pack, Bob Ociepka, Howard Eisley, & Dave Severns Twitter

Los Angeles Clippers, Vinny Del Negro, Coaching, Bob Ociepka, Marc Iavaroni, Robert Pack 

Del Negro was fired at the end of last season after a pair of 41-41 campaigns and two first-round playoff eliminations. “I was disappointed in the way it finished,” Ociepka says, “but I’m lucky to be in Portland. I love the atmosphere here, the support of the administration, the coaching staff and the way everybody works together without egos. “And working for Nate. Of the 16 coaches I’ve worked for, he’s the best. I’m not just saying that. He always knows what to say, how to say it and when to say it. “Coaches have told me in the past you can’t have 82 pep talks a season, that the players have to get themselves ready sometimes at this level. Well, Nate has had 82- plus – one for every game, one for every one of the playoffs and numerous ones in between. It’s been a tremendous learning experience for me, watching him do his thing.” Portland Tribune

Portland Trail Blazers, Coaching, Bob Ociepka 

Bob Ociepka knows basketball. The man has been a coach for more than four decades, since graduation from Quincy (Ill.) College in 1970. He has made 11 stops with 10 teams (Detroit twice) during a 22-year voyage as an NBA assistant coach, joining on with the Trail Blazers this season. Ociepka, 62, knows mobster movies, too. He has seen virtually all of them, beginning with James Cagney flicks of the ’30s to the present. Portland Tribune

Portland Trail Blazers, Coaching, Bob Ociepka 

In 2008, Ociepka and his cousin, Bruno Ociepka, co-authored a book, “Minestrone for the Mobster’s Soul: Life Lessons from the Movie Mafia.” “It’s a book you can’t refuse,” Ociepka says on a commercial for the book produced by the Timberwolves when he was coaching in Minnesota, one that can be seen now on You Tube. (The book is available on amazon.com.) Portland Tribune

Portland Trail Blazers, Coaching, Bob Ociepka 

Brian T. Smith: #Blazers' Ociepka had interest from Los Angles Clippers. Twitter

Gery Woelfel: Ex-Bucks asst. coach Bob Ociepka to interview with Blazers. Twitter

Portland Trail Blazers, Bob Ociepka