tlongII
08-18-2009, 11:20 AM
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=13608
John Townsend would like you to believe his summer hasn't been about trip after trip after trip. But don't buy that for one second.
"To be honest with you, I've traveled. But it hasn't been that bad," said Townsend, who is preparing for his third season as shooting coach for the Portland Trail Blazers.
Yet the longest Townsend has been home this offseason has been a week to ten days. The rest of the time he's lived out of a suitcase, jumped from airport to airport and logged major court time working with guys like Jerryd Bayless, Steve Blake and rookies Dante Cunningham and Jeff Pendergraph.
Towsend is one of four shooting coaches in the NBA - along with former Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Mark Price (Atlanta), Chip Engelland (San Antonio Spurs) and Bryan Gates (Sacramento Kings) whose extensive client list includes Ben Wallace, Dwight Howard and Ime Udoka among others.
But Townsend's approach to his craft goes beyond developing better shooting habits through teaching, video analysis and repetition on free throws, jumpers and three-pointers. It's also about a personal relationship within the workout regardless if he's working with a veteran, second-year player or NBA novice.
"The more I can involve them in what they want to do how they see themselves shooting in the offense my voice will be heard for a longer amount of time," he explained.
"I can turn it into a democracy as opposed to me saying do this, this or this. There are times when guys go out and shoot and I won't say anything to them, and I think they appreciate that. A lot of it is how you deal and relate."
Townsend's first trip of the offseason was to Phoenix to work with Bayless, the Blazers second-year point guard whom John spent a week with. About a week later, Townsend was back down in Phoenix for a return trip and another week with Jerryd.
"I think he's gotten smarter with his time management. I'll go in and get thirty minutes with purpose as opposed to an hour-and-a-half of just being there," Townsend said of Bayless' workouts.
"He's put in a lot of time this summer, and you might not have seen it (at Las Vegas summer league). He has a higher lift and more control over it. He's getting his timing better and is jumping better. That's something I've noticed and something that is good."
After multiple treks to Arizona, Townsend next traveled to Maryland to see Steve Blake, a guy Townsend maintains "was on the first guys that would listen" to John when he arrived in Portland as shooting coach back in 2007.
Long before Townsend spent five seasons as a shooting coach in the NBA Developmental League, John was living and working in Washington D.C as a shooting coach at Gonzaga High School, an all-boys Jesuit school. At that time, Blake was playing for the Washington Wizards and John remembers watching him and thinking Blake was a guy he'd like to work with.
Years later and with the two back in Maryland, Townsend and Blake put in two sessions daily in the morning and afternoons at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center, jammed between one of Blake's youth basketball camp.
"When I got to work with him, he was already a pretty good shooter. He just wants to go up and shoot it. He doesn't want to think about it. I didn't make any changes. I just told him when he's on, why he's on.
"The stuff I do with guys and their shooting is, I wouldn't take your shot and change it. But if you are shooting and there is a stretch where you can't miss; why is that?" John continued.
"There's something different that you are doing for your particular shot. You have to pick and choose your spots. If a guy is off, I might leave him alone. But when a guy is on, that's when I tell him this is what you are doing well. Guys are going to listen to that instead of overhaul things. I'd be a fool to do that. But a change of the feet or positioning of the hands and if they like it after that I might just leave them alone. I try to think of two things that they can hone in on that will make them a straighter shooter or better feel."
Townsend's next trip excluding partnering with Blake back in Portland to workout out four times a week was to Las Vegas, where Townsend assisted with Tim Grgurich's annual camp for NBA players, featuring Baron Davis, Sebastian Telfair, J.R. Smith, Jonny Flynn and James Harden to name a few. It was in Vegas that Townsend had the chance to work with Blazers rookies Dante Cunningham and Jeff Pendergraph (who was nursing a sore hip flexor and was limited to 'form shooting').
The three would arrive 45 minutes before everyone else and workout two hours in the morning and then two hours at night, in addition to one-on-one time with each rookie among drills and competition at the camp.
"With Dante and Jeff I would zone in on one or two things. Then because we were there all week I would be constantly reminding them. But I will also get their input on things. That will be routine. My degree is in elementary education, so there are different not teaching tools - but even when a guy does something incorrectly, I will tell them good job whether they do it right or wrong. Because if you are constantly on them ."
During the upcoming season and with the help of Townsend Portland will look to maintain their shooting ways, at least from beyond the arc. Last season, the Blazers finished fourth in the league in three-point shooting. They shot 46% from the field (good for 8th in the league). But they often struggled from the free throw line and finished 18th in the league overall.
"They may go out and hit a couple of shots or free-throws. Now, is that me? Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? Just because the ball goes into the hoop doesn't necessarily mean it's because of what I told them," Townsend said with a smile.
Along the way, Townsend will continue to teach, continue with words of affirmation and continue to build rapport across the 15-man roster one shooter at a time.
This offseason was merely the case of Townsend being called for traveling. Because for Portland, training camp opens in roughly seven weeks. That's when payoff comes for guys like Bayless, Blake, Cunningham and Pendergraph. And yes, even John Townsend.
"People will say shooting is confidence. Others will say its mechanics. I think it is intertwined. For me, I'm learning from what mistakes are made and learning from what positives are done."
John Townsend would like you to believe his summer hasn't been about trip after trip after trip. But don't buy that for one second.
"To be honest with you, I've traveled. But it hasn't been that bad," said Townsend, who is preparing for his third season as shooting coach for the Portland Trail Blazers.
Yet the longest Townsend has been home this offseason has been a week to ten days. The rest of the time he's lived out of a suitcase, jumped from airport to airport and logged major court time working with guys like Jerryd Bayless, Steve Blake and rookies Dante Cunningham and Jeff Pendergraph.
Towsend is one of four shooting coaches in the NBA - along with former Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Mark Price (Atlanta), Chip Engelland (San Antonio Spurs) and Bryan Gates (Sacramento Kings) whose extensive client list includes Ben Wallace, Dwight Howard and Ime Udoka among others.
But Townsend's approach to his craft goes beyond developing better shooting habits through teaching, video analysis and repetition on free throws, jumpers and three-pointers. It's also about a personal relationship within the workout regardless if he's working with a veteran, second-year player or NBA novice.
"The more I can involve them in what they want to do how they see themselves shooting in the offense my voice will be heard for a longer amount of time," he explained.
"I can turn it into a democracy as opposed to me saying do this, this or this. There are times when guys go out and shoot and I won't say anything to them, and I think they appreciate that. A lot of it is how you deal and relate."
Townsend's first trip of the offseason was to Phoenix to work with Bayless, the Blazers second-year point guard whom John spent a week with. About a week later, Townsend was back down in Phoenix for a return trip and another week with Jerryd.
"I think he's gotten smarter with his time management. I'll go in and get thirty minutes with purpose as opposed to an hour-and-a-half of just being there," Townsend said of Bayless' workouts.
"He's put in a lot of time this summer, and you might not have seen it (at Las Vegas summer league). He has a higher lift and more control over it. He's getting his timing better and is jumping better. That's something I've noticed and something that is good."
After multiple treks to Arizona, Townsend next traveled to Maryland to see Steve Blake, a guy Townsend maintains "was on the first guys that would listen" to John when he arrived in Portland as shooting coach back in 2007.
Long before Townsend spent five seasons as a shooting coach in the NBA Developmental League, John was living and working in Washington D.C as a shooting coach at Gonzaga High School, an all-boys Jesuit school. At that time, Blake was playing for the Washington Wizards and John remembers watching him and thinking Blake was a guy he'd like to work with.
Years later and with the two back in Maryland, Townsend and Blake put in two sessions daily in the morning and afternoons at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center, jammed between one of Blake's youth basketball camp.
"When I got to work with him, he was already a pretty good shooter. He just wants to go up and shoot it. He doesn't want to think about it. I didn't make any changes. I just told him when he's on, why he's on.
"The stuff I do with guys and their shooting is, I wouldn't take your shot and change it. But if you are shooting and there is a stretch where you can't miss; why is that?" John continued.
"There's something different that you are doing for your particular shot. You have to pick and choose your spots. If a guy is off, I might leave him alone. But when a guy is on, that's when I tell him this is what you are doing well. Guys are going to listen to that instead of overhaul things. I'd be a fool to do that. But a change of the feet or positioning of the hands and if they like it after that I might just leave them alone. I try to think of two things that they can hone in on that will make them a straighter shooter or better feel."
Townsend's next trip excluding partnering with Blake back in Portland to workout out four times a week was to Las Vegas, where Townsend assisted with Tim Grgurich's annual camp for NBA players, featuring Baron Davis, Sebastian Telfair, J.R. Smith, Jonny Flynn and James Harden to name a few. It was in Vegas that Townsend had the chance to work with Blazers rookies Dante Cunningham and Jeff Pendergraph (who was nursing a sore hip flexor and was limited to 'form shooting').
The three would arrive 45 minutes before everyone else and workout two hours in the morning and then two hours at night, in addition to one-on-one time with each rookie among drills and competition at the camp.
"With Dante and Jeff I would zone in on one or two things. Then because we were there all week I would be constantly reminding them. But I will also get their input on things. That will be routine. My degree is in elementary education, so there are different not teaching tools - but even when a guy does something incorrectly, I will tell them good job whether they do it right or wrong. Because if you are constantly on them ."
During the upcoming season and with the help of Townsend Portland will look to maintain their shooting ways, at least from beyond the arc. Last season, the Blazers finished fourth in the league in three-point shooting. They shot 46% from the field (good for 8th in the league). But they often struggled from the free throw line and finished 18th in the league overall.
"They may go out and hit a couple of shots or free-throws. Now, is that me? Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? Just because the ball goes into the hoop doesn't necessarily mean it's because of what I told them," Townsend said with a smile.
Along the way, Townsend will continue to teach, continue with words of affirmation and continue to build rapport across the 15-man roster one shooter at a time.
This offseason was merely the case of Townsend being called for traveling. Because for Portland, training camp opens in roughly seven weeks. That's when payoff comes for guys like Bayless, Blake, Cunningham and Pendergraph. And yes, even John Townsend.
"People will say shooting is confidence. Others will say its mechanics. I think it is intertwined. For me, I'm learning from what mistakes are made and learning from what positives are done."