Tag: Chip Engelland

‘I love that guy’: Josh Giddey discusses relationship with shooting guru Chip Engelland

‘I love that guy’: Josh Giddey discusses relationship with shooting guru Chip Engelland.

As the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away from the New Orleans Pelicans in Game 4, an unlikely hero emerged as the co-closer: Josh Giddey’s outside shooting.

The 21-year-old scored nine points all on made 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to complete OKC’s series sweep. After working countless hours over the years, Giddey enjoyed the fruit of his labor with his outside shot.

Entering the league, Giddey’s biggest weakness was his shot. It was evident he needed to turn into a respectable outside shooter to be a positive contributor.

The Thunder saw this, too, and hired away shooting guru Chip Engelland from the San Antonio Spurs in the 2022 offseason. His main assignment in his two years with OKC has been to work with Giddey.

All things considered, the Thunder have had a nice return on investment from Engelland’s addition. Giddey has shot 33% from 3 on 3.1 attempts in two seasons since. This is a high mark of improvement considering what he was thought of before Engelland’s arrival.

Giddey discussed his relationship with Engelland as the Thunder await their Round 2 opponent. He credited the assistant coach for working countless hours with him over the years.

“We talk every day. We’re in here together every day. If he’s not here, we’re texting and calling,” Giddey said. “He’s been great. He’s told me he’s proud of me. … I love that guy. We’ve spent a lot of time together these last two years.”

Giddey needed to become a league-average shooter to unlock his game and over the last couple of months, that’s been the case. If he can continue to shoot the outside ball at a decent clip, he’ll be a massive contributor to a possible deep playoff run by the Thunder.

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Thunder GM Sam Presti praises shooting coach Chip Engelland, calls him a special talent

“He’s going to work with a multitude of people, and I think he’s only additive to the organization.”

One of the more under-the-radar moves in the NBA from this past offseason was the Oklahoma City Thunder adding renowned shooting coach Chip Engelland to their coaching staff.

Engelland is known as arguably the best shooting coach in the league, and he spent the last 17 years with the San Antonio Spurs. Thunder general manager Sam Presti likely knows Engelland from his Spurs days.

When asked how big of an acquisition Engelland is for Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault’s staff, Presti praised the veteran coach in his preseason presser.

“I think Chip is a really special talent and a special person. He, like anyone that is highly skilled, sees things for what they can be and not for what they are. I think he does an excellent job of building relationships that allow people to improve.

“That doesn’t mean that — improvement doesn’t happen immediately, and part of improvement means you have to make adjustments to things that you’re already doing and you’ve had a lot of success with. That’s a challenge also with a lot of the different people.

“A lot of people point to different players he’s helped over the years. But like what he did with Tiago Splitter, that didn’t happen immediately because you have to try these things, and there might be regression until you get to the point where you get to — and you need to build up enough tolerance.

“He’s going to work with a multitude of people, and I think he’s only additive to the organization. But his work is, I think, empowering the players to explore their potential, and he does it in a unique way.”

The player most people immediately linked to Engelland was Josh Giddey. Shooting is the biggest weakness for Giddey’s game and if Engelland can help him develop into an average shooter that will unlock a new level for both the Thunder offense and his potential.

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OKC Thunder announce series of coaching moves: Grant Gibbs to Thunder bench, Kam Woods to Blue

Grant Gibbs will join the Thunder staff while Kam Woods will become the new OKC Blue head coach.

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced a series of coaching moves on Friday and shuffled head coach Mark Daigneault’s staff as the 2022-23 regular season nears.

OKC Blue head coach Grant Gibbs and Thunder assistant coach Kam Woods essentially swapped roles.

Gibbs — who spent the last three seasons as the coach of the Thunder’s G League affiliate — is joining the Thunder coaching staff as an assistant. Woods, who coached the Thunder summer league team this summer, is becoming the new Blue coach.

The Thunder also officially announced Chip Engelland as an assistant coach. Engelland was signed away from the San Antonio Spurs this past summer and is regarded as one of the best shooting coaches in the league.

The 2022-23 Thunder coaching staff will be led by Daigneault. His assistants are Engelland, Gibbs, Dave Bliss, Mike Wilks, David Akinyooye, Eric Maynor and Connor Johnson.

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Josh Giddey praises the Chip Engelland addition, says he was excited when he heard the news

“Obviously having Chip Engelland here — one of the best shooting coaches if not the best in the world — here at the Thunder is someone that’s perfect for me to use as much as possible.”

In an interview with Australia’s news.com.au reporter Matthew Sullivan, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey spoke about the addition of renowned shooting coach Chip Engelland.

Engelland is one of the best shooting coaches in the league. He spent the last 17 years with the San Antonio Spurs. The Thunder signed Engelland this offseason, and many automatically thought Giddey would be the biggest beneficiary of the addition.

Giddey’s shooting is his biggest offensive question mark. If he can develop into a respectable outside threat, that’ll unlock a different level to his game.

Engelland’s coaching can turn that possibility into reality, and it sounds like Giddey is fully on board.

“‘Shooting was a big one for me this offseason,’ Giddey said.

‘Spent a lot of time in the gym getting up shots. Obviously having Chip Engelland here — one of the best shooting coaches if not the best in the world — here at the Thunder is someone that’s perfect for me to use as much as possible. He’s been great.’

Asked if Engelland has tweaked his shooting style at all, Giddey said: ‘Not really. Chip’s hard to explain. He’s a wizard with what he does.

It’s not unorthodox but it’s different to every other coach that I’ve had, who’s said, ‘Shoot this way.’ Chip is one of the best guys I’ve been around. He’s obviously been doing this for so long with San Antonio.

‘When I found out he was coming to OKC, I was very excited for that and knew he was someone I was going to be spending a lot of time with. He’s been great and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with him.'”

It’s exciting to hear Giddey and Engelland are on the same page and an interesting peek behind the curtains of the latter’s coaching style as not much is known about it.

Giddey’s shooting will likely be a multiyear project that might not show results right away this season, so patience is virtue for Thunder fans when it comes to seeing the 19-year-old develop a jumper.

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The Thunder’s brilliant hire from the Spurs makes NBA fans believe Josh Giddey will be a superstar

Oklahoma City’s Josh Giddey is a player whose stock is rising.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are reportedly hiring longtime San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Chip Engelland, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

According to Woj, the coach will work to “develop the shooting habits across the young roster” of players including Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Engelland, described as a shot whisperer, helped former Spurs star Kawhi Leonard work on his jump shot after turning pro. Popovich credits Engelland for San Antonio’s free-throw accuracy.

Giddey led all rookies in assists per game during his promising rookie campaign. 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.

However, as a rookie, Giddey was just 26.3 percent from beyond the arc. 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 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. Six of those players have won an MVP award.

But among that group, Giddey’s 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).

If he can become a more accurate shooter while working with Engelland, the future looks especially bright for Oklahoma City. They have a potential star on their hands with Holmgren, and fans are getting even more excited about Giddey’s projected development:

Woj: Thunder bring in assistant coach Chip Engelland

The former Spurs assistant is regarded as one of the best shooting coaches in the NBA.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault added to his staff with the addition of long-time San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Chip Engelland, per ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

Engelland is regarded as one of the best shooting coaches in the league and is credited with Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker developing their jump shots.

Engelland arrives to a Thunder team where their backcourt of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey are not the best shooting backcourt to say the least — Gilgeous-Alexander is a league average shooter while Giddey is a non-existent shooter.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti was able to lure Engelland in due to their previous relationship in San Antonio. The move was met with applause as the Thunder nab one of the best shooting coaches in the league for a team that needs help with shooting the ball.

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San Antonio’s efforts to crash the …

San Antonio’s efforts to crash the trade hunt for Simmons have been well-chronicled, but Philadelphia remains intent on holding out for Portland’s Damian Lillard or another proven All-Star in a Simmons swap. While the Spurs clearly don’t have one, it’s nonetheless tantalizing to picture Simmons landing in the Alamo City so Popovich and Chip Engelland, San Antonio’s renowned shooting coach, can lead the cause to rehabilitate the wayward Simmons’ game.