Mike D’Antoni was officially named new coach of the Houston Rockets, and he has brought Jeff Bzdelik and Roy Rogers, two defensive-minded coaches, to help. Last season, Houston finished as the sixth-worst defense in the league by allowing 106.4 points per game and opponents shot 45.9 percent against them, slightly above the league average of 45.2 percent.

We chatted with Bzdelik on Wednesday about how he can improve the Rockets' defense.

What attracted you to this job?

Bzdelik: First of all, I’m going to echo everything Mike said and Mr. [Leslie] Alexander and Daryl [Morey]: Everybody is aligned as to how to play. I like playing that way. Mike is brilliant enough to say, "Houston has won and they got a great player [James Harden] and other really, really good players." Everybody is committed and that’s a great thing, so it’s just a great opportunity and Houston is a great city to live in. It really is all those things. When the opportunity was presented to me, it was a no-brainer for my wife and I.

How do you improve defensively in general?

Bzdelik: We have competitive guys who want to win. If you look at the last 10 NBA championship teams, nine of them have finished both in the top 10 in offense and defense. So they know unless they’re really not walking the talk, you've got to be committed on both ends. When players are really comfortable offensively and feel really good, that feeds into their defensive energy in a positive way. When they’re sideways offensively they can be sideways defensively, very easily. Unfortunately it shouldn’t be that way, but it is that way.

What’s your main philosophy on defense?

Bzdelik: All five guys have to be committed. It takes all five guys to get a stop. The goal is to have teams take tough, contested [2-pointers] outside the paint and inside the arc. In order to do that, you have to have great defensive transition because we can’t be one-way runners. Take away easy baskets so they can’t get a coast-to-coast layup, they can’t get a layup off one pass or two passes. They got to have more than two passes and get that ball swung from one side to the other side, and players clearly have to know the scheme and be held accountable, as we are held accountable by all of you.

James Harden took a lot of heat from the media for his defensive play. Is he a better defender than what we think?

Bzdelik: He can defend, as all of them can when they want to, and that goes back to everybody needs to be committed and there needs to be a trust. You can be selfish on defense like you can be selfish on offense by not being where you’re supposed to be to help your teammate or communicate.

Can Clint Capela be the anchor on defense?

Bzdelik: He’s got a chance to be really special because he plays with great energy. He’s light on his feet, he seems intelligent and he can guard multiple positions.