Dave Bliss (basketball coach)
| Oklahoma City Thunder | |
|---|---|
| Position | Assistant coach |
| Career information | |
| High school | Wausau West High School |
| College | University of Georgia |
| Coaching career | 2008–present |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 2008-2009 | University of Georgia (volunteer assistant) |
| 2009-2010 | Virginia Commonwealth University (graduate assistant) |
| 2010-2015 | Oklahoma City Thunder (video analyst/player development coach) |
| 2015-2018 | New York Knicks (player development coach) |
| 2016 and 2017 | German senior men's national team |
| 2018-2019 | Oklahoma City Thunder (senior player development coach) |
| 2019 | Oklahoma City Thunder (assistant coach) |
Dave Bliss (born April 28th, 1986) is an American professional basketball coach who serves as an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was previously a player development coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks, an assistant coach for the German senior men's national team, a graduate assistant for VCU Rams men's basketball, and a volunteer assistant for the University of Georgia.
Early life and college career
Bliss attended Wausau West (Wis.) High School, where he was a standout basketball player and the valedictorian of the class of 2004. He was a lightly recruited two star prospect, but earned a scholarship offer to play at the Georgia Bulldogs basketball[1]. Bliss was a four year starter and three year team captain for the Bulldogs. He was named Co-MVP of the 07-08 team that won the 2008 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament and participated in the NCAA tournament. That same year, he was awarded SEC scholar athlete of the year and won the Dick Copas Leadership Award, an award given to one male student at Georgia who demonstrates exceptional leadership and commitment to his program.
Coaching career
Following his senior season at Georgia, Bliss became a volunteer assistant for then head coach Dennis Felton. The next season, Bliss joined the Virginia Commonwealth staff with former Georgia assistant, Mike Jones. The head coach of Virginia Commonwealth University, Shaka Smart, was intrigued by Bliss' former playing style and unusual size that he could bring to his coaching staff stating, I remembered Dave was a really cerebral player. Also, you don't get a lot of coaching candidates that are that size." Throughout the season, NBA scouts watched VCU's star player, Larry Sanders (basketball), an eventual 1st round draft pick. Current Oklahoma City Thunder general manager, Sam Presti, was one of the executives that followed Sanders that season. While scouting Sanders, Presti became impressed with Bliss' abilities. Following VCU's season, Presti hired Bliss as a video analyst and player development assistant. [2] Bliss stayed with the Thunder as a video analyst and player development coach from 2010-2015. His time with the Thunder included one trip to the 2012 NBA Finals and two trips to the Conference Finals. Bliss' next stop was with the New York Knicks. As a player development coach, he prepared opposing team scouting reports, led drill work for players during practice and game days, and oversaw summer development activities for players. During the 2016 and 2017 NBA offseason, Bliss served as an assistant coach for the German senior men's national team. In 2018, he rejoined the Thunder as a senior player development coach. After one season in the role, Bliss was promoted to assistant coach on the Thunder staff. Bliss was the head coach for the Thunder at the 2019 NBA Summer League.[3].
References
- ↑ Horne, Erik. "Why Thunder assistant Dave Bliss is more than his name". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- ↑ Weitzman, Yaron. "Latest NBA Hiring Trend: Younger, Smarter, Stronger Assistant Coaches in Demand". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- ↑ "Thunder Announces Coaching Staff". Oklahoma City Thunder. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
External links
This article "Dave Bliss (basketball coach)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.