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Nice read, thanks for posting.
The Ball Tells the Truth: An Interview with Chip Engelland
by Graydon Gordian
Spurs Assistant Coach Chip Engelland is widely credited with being the technical mastermind behind the improvement that we’ve seen in Tony Parker’s mid-range jumper. Reportedly he’s also spent time working with George Hill and DeJuan Blair on their shooting (I say “reportedly” because Chip will not discuss any of the specific players he is working with). Before last night’s Timberwolves game, I had a chance to talk with the Spurs resident shot doctor about the process of reconstructing a shot, the challenges of range, and the psychology of the shooter.
When you’re working on reconstructing a shot, what’s the length of time that it takes, say from when your first assessing his mechanics to when you’ve reshaped his shot?
That’s hard to say. I think everybody is different. Everybody comes from a different place. They have different habits. They have different scarring. Are you in the middle of the season having games to play? Or are you during the summer when there is a no judgment period and you’ve got a long time before you have a game to play. All those have to be taken into consideration before you touch anybody’s shot.
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Nice read, thanks for posting.
One of the better interviews of a Spurs coach in recent memory. Pops quips get a little old as he evades the question.
Yeah, I enjoyed Chips analytical, detailed answers. Very refreshing and informative.
It is clear he has an effect on the team, with Tony especially. I was stoked when they got him on the staff from Denver and even more stoked now that I see players like Blair improving their free throws dramatically.
Interesting to get inside the mind of Chip. It's hard to argue with a guy who's body of work includes helping Steve Kerr's all-time best three point percentage. But when I saw how he was able to transform Tony's shot over time, I became a true believer. (Hopefully, Tony gets back on the right track. His shot hasn't been falling this season, and it looks like in his struggles, he's been reverting back to some of his old habits).
It definitely looks like he's been working with Blair from the line. Like Sean said on the telecast, Blair came in shooting almost a knuckleball for free-throws. He's since reverted to that high arcing free throw which, you could tell seemed uncomfortable at first, but now finds itself going in more and more, or at least bouncing off front or back rim.
At Blair's size, being a consistent free throw shooter would help him immensely. He may not be big enough to finish around the big guys in the league, but he knows how to use his body and get to the line.
You can tell when Duncan's shooting his FTs with better technique. He doesn't shoot them flat-footed so his arm extension is natural. He gets better balance with one foot in front
But when he gets tired sometimes inthe 4th quarter he goes back to shooting flat footed with feet evened up on the line and he doesn't have a normal range of motion.
I guess he forgets.
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