Fortunately for San Antonio, though, theres only one Chip Engelland. He wants to get better. Its like a great pitcher when do I throw the curve, or the change-up. He is a. He didnt shoot a high percentage from 3 in college, and that was a shorter distance. Once you start adding other pieces to his game drives and post-ups and turnaround jumpers, etc do you ever have to come back to the shooting form, to make sure theres no slippage? But while Belinellis shot charts from the past two years (courtesy ofGrantland colleague Kirk Goldsberry) reveal a player who is taking different shots, they also reveal one who has been a significantly better shooter almost regardless of where hes taking them: Its hard to even envision that those two charts could be of the same player, let alone in consecutive seasons. Tiago Splitter, $10,000,000, 2013-14. Part of the reason hes something resembling a secret weapon is that Engelland doesnt seek the spotlight. Its not easy to change your shot. He's been heralded for his shooting development of Spurs legend Tony Parker, along with former Spur and current Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard. Engelland hit 55.4 percent of the ACC's 17'9" three-point shots in 1983. Buford and the San Antonio player personnel department to pursue players, like Leonard, who are undervalued because of their shooting woes, knowing that they have the leagues best shot doctor on staff to improve things. You cant just run roughshod over your teammates to try to do that. The longtime Spurs assistant coach and well-known shooting guru has no. At some point, it becomes his. var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; In the NBA today, player development is more important than its ever been. Engelland:At a certain point in anybodys rookie season, you back off and let him learn the league, learn the Spurs. Below is a litany of articles on the adjustments Leonard made (note the gif above) with Engellands guidance along with a document of my favorite quotes about the process. The Spurs thrive in obscurity, and nobody exemplifies that more than Engelland, the teams secret weapon.1. "Watching him in San Diego, twice a day every day, taking hundreds of jump shots, made me realize that he bought in to it. But among that group, Giddeys 3-point percentage is lower than each of those players except for Ben Simmons (the only player on that list other than Doncic not to win an MVP). He bought into it for sure. July 16th 2022 at 5:47pm CST by Arthur Hill The Spurs are locking up one of the keys to their rebuilding project by agreeing to . Chip Engelland, a Spurs' assistant coach and shooting guru, has been a huge part of smoothing out and simplifying the shooting motion of Leonard, almost instantly making him a reliable. The promise is there for the Australian-born standout, who is one of nine players in NBA history with career averages of at least 12 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists per game. I got to see it in person. So, Fraser had Kerr re-enact his usual 48-minute game without Kerr realizing it. After he graduated, Engelland bounced around the CBA and the 76-inches-and-under World Basketball League, and became a legend in the basketball hotbed of the Philippines before retiring. Parker has gotten his share of heat in San Antonio, and some of it deserved. Just nice, solid incremental improvement.. 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game and shooting 39.8% from three-point range. Meet Chip Engelland, San Antonio Spurs assistant. The one criticism of Giddeys game so far has been his shootingand ability to hit the scoreboard. And then when he came back to San Antonio after the lockout, the coaching staff was really happy with his progress and where he was with his jump shot.". ibis hotel near me sexual true wife stories free breast pump with insurance edgepark Ginobili has only made two All-Star teams in his career. Kawhi Leonard, $16,407,500, 2015-16. Chris Ballard covered Engellands work with Parker in his excellent bookThe Art of a Beautiful Game: In Parkers case, the first thing Engelland noted was that while his form was exemplary on his one-handed runners and teardrops, Parker held the ball differently on his jump shot. One of my great compliments to Kawhi is, even after four years, he still loves the gym. During Engellands time at Palisades, an eighth grader by the name of Steve Kerr was watching him from the stands. -The Shot Doctor (LINK) "He has a great feel and understanding of what makes players tick and how to deal with them especially Kawhi," Leonard's agent, Brian Elfus of Impact Sports, said of Engelland. . Yet Leonard's development is the one most germane to the here and now, as the Spurs' quest to avenge their loss in the 2013 Finals might well have been lost if not for his breakout game. Josh Giddey's outside shot needs development. At this point, you really have no idea what Leonard is like personally. As DraftExpress noted before the 2011 lottery, virtually every one of Leonards shooting metrics from his time at San Diego State were abysmal. In it, Barnwell describes how Engelland helped Steve Kerr when he was playing in Portland. Its hard to find a category where he isnt having his best season. Engelland, described as a shot whisperer, helped former Spurs star Kawhi Leonard work on his jump shot after turning pro. Subsequently, he lettered four seasons at Duke University, scoring more than 1,000 points for coach Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils and being named the team's captain in his senior year.[1][2]. He had a great focus, beyond his years.. He would have needed a ticket or a television to watch the contest that time a year ago, let alone participate. Before the season, ESPN Insider Kevin Peltons SCHOENE projection system used Belinellis prior performance to suggest that he would hit 44.0 percent of his 2-pointers and 39.4 percent of his 3s. Behind the scenes in San Antonio, theres Chip Engelland the man who has been quietly improving the Spurs offense. The fine-tuning continues. Thats the sixth-best rate in the league for a player of Belinellis size or smaller. Later, Engelland would coach Kerrs summer league teams before Kerr headed off to play at Arizona. Three years later, he signed with the Denver Nuggets as the director of player development, holding the position for two seasons. Hes in San Diego, every day is perfect, and instead of three, he only goes to the gym twice. Chip Engelland est le shooting coach de Tony Parker. The following offseason, the Spurs even made a serious run at Nets point guard Jason Kidd in free agency, a move thatlikely would have ended Parkers tenure in San Antonio.3 We all know how that worked out, but by the time Engelland joined the Spurs in 2005, the missing outside shot remained the obvious hole in Parkers game. He joined LeBron James and Luka Doncic as the only NBA players to record at least 600 points, 400 rebounds, and 300 assists before turning 20. Engelland, who came to the Spurs from the Denver Nuggets in 2005, has been the go-to guy on this front for quite some time. You can argue that the Spurs actually got a bargain here, with speculation that Green's talents as a 3-pointer shooter/defender would command significantly more. Engelland has been a. And then we used Kobe Bryant. Chip Engelland, an assistant coach for the Spurs, is also the team's designated shooting guru. Longtime San Antonio Spurs assistant and shooting coach Chip Engelland will leave the franchise at the conclusion of his contract, per a report Monday from Bleacher Report. Its nice when you get to watch it in person. Engelland would ask Kerr to tell him what was going on with his kids or even leave him to read a newspaper. I walked into pre-draft camp, and Kawhi wasnt scheduled to work out. [2] He was known by Filipino fans as "the Machine Gun" for his superb shooting skills. 5. Engelland would ask Kerr to tell him what was going on with his kids or even leave him to read a newspaper. He scored over 1,000 points for the Blue Devils. Jake Fischer reported Monday afternoon that the San Antonio Spurs shooting coach Chip Engelland is set to leave the franchise when his contract is up. A lot of them, I have to watch on film. They were behind. His style of coaching lends itself to completely changing a players outlook and significantly raising their ceiling. David Robinson, $14,841,000, 1998-99. What is his psychological makeup like as a shooter? https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/thunder-chip-engelland-hired-shooting-guru-spurs-josh-giddey, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Engelland asked for permission to change Leonard's shot, to perform a "tune-up," as he called it, on the player who shot 43.5% overall and 27.5% from three-point range in his final collegiate season but hit 52.2% of his shots overall and 37.5% of his threes this season. Engelland, described as a shot whisperer, helped former Spurs star Kawhi Leonard work on his jump shot after turning pro. Sign up for the Layup Lines newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning. After starring during his time at Pacific Palisades High School in California, Engelland went on to Duke, where he took advantage of a 17-foot-9-inch 3-point line to shoot 55.4 percent from behind the arc his senior year. The Spurs planned for years in order to have enough money to throw at a max free agent this summer. After turning Gary Neal into a deadeye shooter from 3, he built Belinelli into San Antonios latest spot-up monster on the cheap. He is painfully quiet, a 22-year-old whose father was murdered in 2008 and who is extremely discerning about who he trusts. Engellands career as an NBA shooting coach started well before his time in San Antonio. Kin Man Hui / San . All rights reserved. Despite the presence of pro defenses and the extra three feet between the NBAs 3-point line and its college equivalent, Leonard has improved his 3-point shooting in the pros, hitting 37.6 percent of his 465 3-point attempts through three seasons. He shot pretty far back behind his head, but he had good grip and he had some nice tools.". He always wants more shots. 68K views 1 year ago Arthur "Chip" Engelland, a former member of the Philippine national basketball team in the 1980s, is well known in basketball circles as the "Shot Doctor". That was a nice statement for him.. Back in April 2014, Bill Barnwell wrote a fascinating piece about Spurs coach Chip Engelland: The Shot Doctor.. Engelland is known for being the best "shot doctor" in the league. During the 1999-2000 season, he became a shooting consultant with the Detroit Pistons. In this case, it might be more remarkable to note the changes Engelland hasnt made; namely, hes resisted the urge to rebuild Belinellis shot and allowed him to retain much of his old motion, with Belinelli often leaning away from the basket like some tiny, abbreviated Dirk Nowitzki impersonation. Chip Engelland, shooting guru and long-time Spurs assistant coach, has left the franchise to join the Oklahoma City Thunder. SGA's shooting needs consistency. In addition, DAngelo Russell had a down shooting year from outside in 2021-22 as well, at just 34 percent. There you go. Jaden McDaniels, who shot just 31.7 percent from three this past season, would be a huge beneficiary of the shot doctors work. His reputation as a shot doctor comes from cases like Kawhi. Then, hed return to the bench. Search instead in Creative? Engelland:Just to be patient, not get too down. Players such as Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, Danny Green and others have credited Engelland with helping them improve their shots. Engelland was the guru who built Shane Battiers 3-point stroke at Duke and refined Grant Hills outside shot during Hills run in Detroit, but hes come to find a home in San Antonio, where he has dramatically affecteda number of players careers as a shot doctor over the past nine years. 4. I couldnt hit a shot at the beginning of my career,he told the Houston Chronicle. He missed a big free throw, for example, in the 2013 Finals. I honestly dont know. Instead of going to the gym three times a day this summer, I think he only went twice a day. Kerr "worked out" for 30 minutes and shot six shots. Because you have to do all that within your team game. A typical shooting coach, Kerr said, would have noted hisstruggles and told him to take 200 shots from a variety of spots to try toregain his physical rhythm. Engelland: "Just to be patient, not get too down. It was very subtle, Kerr told me, but before I started working with [Chip], the ball rolled more off my middle finger than my index finger. Chip Engelland (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images). The Bulls preferred to bring Mike Dunleavy back to town in Belinellis place, leaving him to hit the free-agent market. Instead, inverting the Parker story, Belinelli has taken 3s more frequently, been better at hitting them, and has come to dominate in the paint; after hitting just 90 of 177 layups (50.8 percent) in 2012-13, Belinellis converted 91 of 124 layups (73.4 percent) in 2013-14. The next time youre thrown into those tests, youre better. For that story, I conducted extensive interviews with the Spurs player-development coaches, Chip Engelland and Chad Forcier. Leonard more than earned his hefty paycheck after producing well beyond the scope of his rookie contract. The NBA lockout was coming quickly that year, meaning players and coaches would have to part ways until there was resolution, so Leonard headed straight for San Antonio with Elfus and spent the little time he had left listening to the charismatic coach with the impressive track record. They hadnt finished any higher than 14th in free throw accuracy during the Pop era before 2012-13, but they were third in free throw percentage last year and fourth this year. When Leonard was drafted 15th overall by the Indiana Pacers out of San Diego State in 2011 and immediately traded to the Spurs, there were only three days left for him to meet his new bosses. Their biggest addition was Bulls backup wing Marco Belinelli, who ended up loggingthe second-most minutes of anybody on the roster, at a significantly higher level of play than he had ever exhibited. Belinelli hit 44 percent of his 2-pointers before arriving in San Antonio; this year, he has hit a whopping 52.5 percent of those shots. Chip Engelland grabbed a book off a display, thumbed through it, then looked up in my direction, at me, quickly; a sightless glance, the kind one delivers to strangers thoughtlessly. Hes been great.. Engelland, considered the NBA's preeminent shooting coach, spent 17 years with the Spurs where he's. Chet, J-Dub are great shooters but the NBA translation is key. The ultimate goal in my job is for the player to be their own shooting coach, but in the right way. And of course, the lockout hits a week after hes drafted, and youre not going to be able to help at all during that time. -Meet the NBA Shot Doctors (LINK) It all came to fruition in one whirlwind week last month as they landed Aldridge for the biggest signing in team history. Manu Ginobili, $14,107,492, 2012-13. 2. His team went a league-best 62-20, without a single player averaging 30 minutes per game and after an offseason in which the Spurs lost Popovichs two primary assistants. But since then, he's won two rings with the Spurs after titles in 2007 and 2014. By the end of the year, Peltons numbers had Belinelli down for 3.6 WARP (wins above replacement player). He has that way about him. He never did it with the Spurs, but they were more than happy to bring him on in order to dump Jefferson and his ill-fated contract. Sports-Reference.coms college basketball site has full-career data for NCAA players going back through the 1999 season. That all just takes time and experience. Make or miss, Fraser would go back to the bench. Its tough because hes testing things. Engelland:On a lot of drafts, you hear somebody is a gym rat, loves the gym. Eddie Johnson breaks down the all-time Spurs greats. Today Chip Engelland is sixty-years-old. Engelland might quietly be one of the most undervalued assets in basketball. if (d.getElementById(id)) return; Assistant coach Chip Engelland will leave the San Antonio Spurs after the end of his contract, sources told Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Parker, as Adrian Wojnarowski mentions in that story, was also pissed. He is currently an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). That would make Engelland worth more than $1million to the organization, and thats solely considering his work with Belinelli. Then Engelland would have him sprint onto the court and shoot another shot before sitting down again. https://t.co/fDfLzgJuBW, Curtis Fitzpatrick (@cfitzfox) July 27, 2022. The draft happened and Kawhi comes here, and we have to talk to him. The Oklahoma City Thunder are reportedly hiring longtime San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Chip Engelland, per ESPNs Adrian Wojnarowski. So we talked about it. js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; Thats what evolves once you get to know yourself well.. You get to know your shot better. You don't. You can see Leonards old shot in the pre-draft workout clips here and a closeup of his new form here. After ranking 24th or worse six times in Popovichs eight seasons before Engelland arrived, the Spurs have finally turned things around. That creates a perpetual advantage that goes beyond one player and one shot. There wasn't much of it still available, but I now own all of it. He served as a ball boy for coach John Wooden and the NCAA champion UCLA Bruins in 1975, before arriving at Duke University four years later where he played under coach Mike Krzyzewski for four seasons. In an interview with fan podcast "At The Line," Eubanks spoke about expanding his game away from the rim and working with the team's shooting coach guru, Chip Engelland. Before Duncan there was the Admiral, building on the foundation put down by George Gervin to help secure what had been a tenuous future in San Antonio for the Spurs -- something easy to forget after two decades of championship contention. Kerr told Engelland about his problem and the shooting expert flew up and offered a solution: a 30-minute, seven-shot workout. So youget his form where you want it. You can only imagine how furious he might have been hadthe signing actually happened. They all swear by the man with the salt-and-pepper hair who used to captain Mike Krzyzewski's Duke teams, the 53-year-old who has such a special way of persuading the most stubborn of athletes to trust in his ways. So he and Engelland did whole workouts where Steve would shoot one shot, then go and sit down for five minutes. Engelland isnt solely responsible for all of that, since the offense helps get Belinelli better shots and the Italian actually has to line up and drain them, but is Engelland responsible for, say, 20 percent of that improvement? Now heres what Rusty Simmons wrote about Bruce Fraser, who is an assistant coach for the Warriors under Steve Kerr and working with Steph Curry. Spurs Notes: K. Johnson, Primo, Wesley, Branham, Engelland. Tony Parker was an unknown quantity when the Spurs drafted him out of France with the 28th pick of the 2001 draft; as Charles Barkley famously put it shortly after the selection, I dont know that much about him, but if they got him in the first round, he must be a good player. Parker became an immediate starter in the league during his rookie season at just 19 years old, and he dazzled with his speed and ability to get to the rim, but his game had one huge hole: his outside shot. We used him as a model that release point and shot. My first thoughts were, who flew to Portland? The San Antonio roster is full of players whose shots miraculously improved once they were under his care from Tony Parker to Patty Mills to Kawhi Leonard, the Game 3 star who made 10 of 13 shots for 29 points. "I didn't really know the players until about the end of the year. Its a grand opportunity to gain one of the most valuable coaching figures in the league. https://t.co/wmChd2YhgL, Matt Lawson (@NBADynastyADP) July 27, 2022. There will always be another player for the Spurs to rebuild and improve. MIAMI "The Shot Doctor," as some have deemed him, was drawing more attention than normal Wednesday. I evaluate shooters for the draft. Its hard to imagine that tiny shift of weight even being perceptible to an observer, but Kerr noted that Engelland is capable of seeing things in a shooters motion that even Kerr, the leagues most accurate 3-point shooter ever, wouldnt notice. Chip Engelland, Josh Giddey, Oklahoma City Thunder, Chip Engelland, Luguentz Dort, Oklahoma City Thunder, Chip Engelland, Mark Daigneault, Uncategorized, Chip Engelland, Mark Daigneault, Oklahoma City Thunder, Chip Engelland, Coaching, Aaron Wiggins, Aleksej Pokusevski, Darius Bazley, Eugene Omoruyi, Jalen Williams, Jaylin Williams, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Josh Giddey, Lindy Waters III, Ousmane Dieng, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tre Mann, Oklahoma City Thunder, Brandon Rahbar: Josh Giddey says that when he first started working with Chip Engelland, he had him just shoot one handed shots. He understands that a big part of shooting is the shooters mind, Kerr said, and a moment toward the end of Kerrs career provided such an example. More recently, Engelland worked with Tiago Splitter on his free throws, and theres been a notable improvement; after hitting 58.2 percent in the Euroleague, Splitter has made 68.0 percent of his free throws in the NBA. At first, hes learning something and changing it. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. As one of the most recognized and respected developmental coaches in the league, much of the Spurs success with player development over the years can be attributed to him. There were 13 Thunder players in attendance during Olin Simplis Big Guard U NBA runs. So just trying to find my spots on the floor and see where I could fit in or where I could be aggressive at.". The drill was created by Spurs Shooting Coach Chip Engelland, not Warriors Assistant Coach Bruce Fraser. I Ccd Draper in the aforementioned letter to Barnwell. Leonard who averaged a career-high 12.8 points a game during the regular season but had never scored more than 26 points in an NBA preseason, regular-season or playoff game was different from the rest of Engelland's pet projects. That is well below the league average last season and ranked in the 8th percentile among players at his position, per Cleaning the Glass. The Spurs won a title a month before his hire after defeating the Detroit Pistons in a thrilling seven-game series. En 1995, Chip Engelland a mme cr Chicago les . OKC Dynasty https://t.co/yxiRInFCWb, Ryan Hammer (@ryanhammer09) July 27, 2022, Big time move for OKC and a lot of guys on this young team but especially for Josh Giddey https://t.co/15f2n4EQoI, Keandre (Hoop Intellect) (@HoopIntelllect) July 27, 2022, Josh Giddey with a jump shot https://t.co/qmJqyfcMaJ pic.twitter.com/Y6yrt3d2TO, Jeremy 'Da Dermy' Lambert (@jeremylambert88) July 27, 2022, Josh Giddey's going to be shooting like Curry by the season's end https://t.co/gGmRgVwAOC, Jackson Floyd (@Jacks0nFloyd) July 27, 2022, Josh Giddey under the tutelage of Chip Engelland pic.twitter.com/KC9H6PuAYp, Stan SGA Boomer Sooner (Hunter Harjo) (@hunterharjo7) July 27, 2022, Josh Giddey after a season with Chip Engelland: pic.twitter.com/6RWrwPiTPd, Boomtown Hoops (@BoomtownHoops) July 27, 2022, Josh Giddey really about to be the best player on the planet, Jack Monaco (@jackjmonaco) July 27, 2022, A Josh Giddey hire. Is that something that is continually tweaked throughout his first year, and down the line? Click through the slideshow to see which Spurs earned the most. C'est lui qui a aid le basketteur franais a amlior sa technique au lancer. Engelland wasn't much of a defender or playmaker but he totaled 1,025 points in his Duke career before going on to. The Spurs shooting coach turns 60 today. Hes also become a much better free throw shooter, having hit 69.7 percent of his free throws before Engelland changed his shot and 77.2 percent of his freebies since.4 Altogether, since Engelland came to San Antonio, the only guard who has hit a higher percentage of his 2-point shots than Parker is Steve Nash.5 Chip Engelland might very well be the difference between Tony Parker, very good point guard, and Tony Parker, future Hall of Famer. Dont try to push it out to the 3-point line at first. RELATED:The Kawhi Leonard companion: A Chad Forcier Q&A. Timberwolves should pursue Spurs shooting coach Chip Engelland In the NBA today, player development is more important than it's ever been. Their offseason training sessions have continued. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Obviously having Chip England here one of the best shooting coaches if not the best in the world here at the Thunder is someone thats perfect for me to use as much as possible. They have two sons, Press and Path.[1]. It was his three first-quarter three-pointers that helped spark the Spurs, but it was years worth of work and relationship building with Engelland that truly helped it happen. Engelland, the former dead shot swingman of the NCC squad, is now an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA. Popovich and general manager R.C. He taught me to spread my hands out a little wider on the ball and use my index fingers more. Kerr saysthat switch made hima more consistent shooter by allowing himmore control over his shot and makingit far less likely that the ball would slip and roll off his pinky fingers. Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) July 11, 2022. Ballard notes that Parker had shot 34.5 percent on his attempts outside the paint during the previous season; in his first year working with Engelland, Parker shot 39.7 percent on those same attempts. Kerr was in the middle of a shooting slump and went to dinner with his wife and Engelland. So its a good thing the Wolves signed two former Spurs this offseason in Kyle Anderson and Bryn Forbes. In that episode, Fraser flew to Portland, but didnt want Kerr to pick up the airfare, hotel bill or food costs. "This offseason,. Engelland:We knew when he came back, how much it had stuck with him and he took it to heart. The shooting specialist credited with sharpening the strokes of Grant Hill, Tony Parker and, most recently, Kawhi Leonard . Was there anyconcern about his 3-point shooting entering the pros? He shot just 32 percent on catch-and-shoot jumpers and 28 percent on pull-ups. So what does this mean for the Minnesota Timberwolves? Spurs put on a clinic vs. Heat in Game 3 win. I will let you know if I hear from Draper. Sometimes, hed start reading a newspaper or start asking Kerr about his family. I think his scoring average has gone up each year not by 10 points, but 2 or 3 points each year. ESPN Sources: The Oklahoma City Thunder are hiring Chip Engelland as an assistant coach. Virtually all of that comes down to Belinellis shooting; if Pelton replaced Belinellis actual shooting rates with the figures he projected for Belinelli before the season, Belinellis WARP falls all the way down to 0.2, leaving him as basically roster filler. He counsels and instructs, dismantles and reassembles. One area he doesn't get enough credit for is his willingness to take less, a key factor in the Spurs' ability to keep their championship core together for so many years. We both grewup in Southern California. Kerr gave me the anecdote in March, and I wrote about it when Klay Thompson was in a shooting slump. Thats not a joke. But they still traded for him anyway, one of the rare miscues of R.C. He does whatever the coach tells him to.. Earlier today, I read an interesting article about Golden State Warriors assistant coach Bruce Fraser in the San Francisco Chronicle: The Curry Whisperer: Shot guru Fraser has MVPs ear.. I remember the first year here, he was just getting comfortable on the wings. But that could change after legendary shooting guru Chip Engelland joined the Thunder this off-season as an assistant coach after a long stint at the San Antonio Spurs. Here it is, in its entirety: What a silly mistake. Richard Jefferson, $14,200,000, 2009-10. By now youre most likely familiar with the story of how Kawhi Leonards shot reconstruction. -Kyle Korver on shooting (LINK) Chip, use your magic on Josh Giddey & I'll build you a statue personally. He just needed it to be honed in games, and because of the lockout there arent many games. Who, every day, stared up into the stoic eyes of Tim Duncan, my sports hero growing up. When San Antonio acquired Kawhi Leonard in 2011, they got a player who was a defensive stalwart, but very limited offensively. At some point, it becomes yours. The Curry Whisperer: Shot guru Fraser has MVPs ear. The Cooler (@The__Cooler) July 27, 2022. Engelland didnt remake Kerrs shot he didnt need to but he became a trusted voice for keeping Kerrs fundamentals solid, while making minor changes to Kerrs already-legendary stroke. After graduating from Duke in 1983, Engelland went on to play professionally for nine years. He just needed game experience and practice experience. Parkers struggles led defenses to leave him open in key situations, and the pressure led Popovich to lean on backup Speedy Claxton over his starting point guard late in games during the 2002-03 Finals against the Nets. Its also possible that Chip has never worked with a shooter as precise as Karl-Anthony Towns. -Spurs assistant Engelland explains how he strengthened Leonards outside shot (LINK)