Bauman: Knicks secret weapon is shooting coach Dave Hopla
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By Jeremy Bauman
December 03, 2012 at 11:34 AMRonnie Brewer hops up from where he’s posted at the scorer’s table about an hour before tip-off against the Phoenix Suns.
“I’ll be back,” said Brewer. “Gotta get some shots up.”
The shooting guard runs across the court and finds New York’s shooting guru, Dave Hopla, for a pre-game workout.
“To me it’s a confidence thing, said Brewer following the Knicks 106-99 win over the Phoenix Suns. “Having him be able to help me, to critique what I’m doing wrong and where I can make an adjustment in practice and to me that’s what practice is for. It’s about practicing and making adjustments to correct things that you didn’t do well before.”
That’s what Dave Hopla was brought in to do.
While holding shooting demonstrations in the summer of 2007, he made 11,093 of 11,183 shots he took – a 99.19 shooting percentage – and it’s not a coincidence. Hopla consistently shoots at absurd rates because he’s practiced and written down every shooting session since he was 16 years old.
At the aforementioned clinics, Hopla details the importance of hard work and effort that go into shooting on a daily basis.
“They don’t put enough time in,” Hopla told iHoops.com. “Kids play how many AAU games in the summer? When do they go in a gym and make 500 shots in the summertime? They never do it. All they do is play games.
“You’re not going to become a better shooter or a better player just by playing games. It’s not going to happen. You wonder why guys can’t make free throws. They don’t practice them. They play AAU games. They play four games a day on the weekends and they travel from city to city.”
Now in his mid-50′s, Hopla understands the nuances of shooting as well as anybody in the world, which is just one of the reasons the New York Knicks hired him to be their shooting specialist before the season. December 03, 2012 at 11:34 AM
“It’s nice to have a guy who as soon as someone steps in the gym he’s like, ‘I heard a ball dribbling’ and he’s on the court,” said sharpshooter Steve Novak, who understands and appreciates Hopla’s commitment to teaching. “He’s someone who you really can go talk to about shooting if you’re not making shots because he’s a shooter. If, for some reason you’re like, ‘Today am I flat? Am I not following through? What is it?’ He’s shot a million shots. When he says something, he’s done it and he’s thought about it. That’s useful.”
The Knicks’ 28-year old rookie Chris Copeland has done lots of work on his shot in the past with various coaches, but Hopla is on another level.
“The one thing I like about him most is that he comes in every day with a smile on his face,” said Copeland. “He’s always pushing guys, always saying motivational things every day. He does the best job, as far as a shooting coach. He’s the best I’ve ever seen personally. He’s amazing. You go out there and he tells you on thing about your jump shot and you tweak that and make the next 20 in a row. He’s an amazing shooting coach and he does a great job.
“I’ve learned a lot [in the past] and I’ve always had a decent base. But at the end of the day, he is who he is for a reason.”
With improved team percentages from the 3-point line (33.6% 2011-12 up to 41.6% in 2012-13) and free throw shooting (74.1% to 77.6%), it’s unquestionable that Hopla’s input has worked.
“He’s a great motivator, man, especially when you’re out there shooting the basketball,” said Carmelo Anthony following his 34-point special against Phoenix. “He’s very positive, always going to tell you about your mechanics and what you’re doing wrong. So his main thing is just consistency, doing the same thing over and over again.”
According to current assistant coach LaSalle “Tank” Thompson, the former No. 5 pick overall in 1982 who currently specializes in working with the Knicks’ big men, Hopla’s imprint is all over the team.
“Out here he just works with guys on their shooting, tells them about little idiosyncrasies they might need to correct,” said Thompson during shootaround preceding a noon tipoff at the Garden yesterday. “And if you listen during the game if guys are missing free throws or shots, he’ll tell them something they did wrong with the shot.
“It varies from player to player but I would say each guy probably, if we have 15 guys on the team, I’d say at least 10-12 of them spend at least a half hour with him every day,” explained Thompson. “They’ll go in groups and do shooting drills before and after practice, and anyone who’s struggling with their shot, they’ll come and work with him individually.”
December 03, 2012 at 11:34 AM
Should every team have a shooting coach?
Yes, every team should probably have a shooting coach… But it’s not that simple. Shooting takes focus, effort, discipline and time. In order to become a better shooter, one needs to be willing to work through initial shortcomings to reach the higher plateau of success that comes with doing things properly.
“A lot of people say ‘Oh, it doesn’t feel right.’” Hopla told iHoops. “It’s like a new pair of shoes. You don’t throw your shoes in the garbage. You keep working them.”
Not every player is willing /cares enough to put in the work perfect their shot. Not every player is going to listen to somebody who might not have played basketball at the highest level, but who, like Hopla, understands the nuances of how to shoot a basketball better than most NBA athletes. As shooting coaches continue to become more popular around the league, the most important aspect of the test is the relationship the shooting coach develops with the players.
According to former Knicks superstar and current MSG color commentator Walt “Clyde” Frazier, it’s tough to teach players at the NBA level.
“To me at this level it’s very difficult to teach,” said Frazier. “To me, the main thing about shooting is confidence; you have to believe. Then, knowing your range. A lot of guys are not 3-point shooters, but they try. If they moved in a little bit they’d be successful.”
In other words, players can be stubborn or fixed in their ways. Interestingly enough, Frazier had a problem as a shooter before he entered the NBA.
“My problem in college was getting my shot off quick enough,” said Frazier. “My shot was too slow getting it off. Having a shooting coach can help to see your faults. Maybe you’re not squaring up to the basket or shooting across your body or releasing the ball on the way up rather than at the height of your shot, so all of those things are important. Coach told me I had to work on my shot to get it quicker. I’d come out, play one-on-one with the guys and try to get the shot off. If I didn’t [get it off] I’d use a head fake to give me time to get the shot off slowly. If you didn’t jump I’d shoot it and if you jumped I’d jump into you [like Durant]. That would give me that split second I needed to get the shot off and was my improvisation for my having a slow shot.”
Before this season, the Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin was primarily known as a posterizing force. This past offseason Griffin hired a shooting coach, which helped to demonstrate that Griffin knew – knows – that he must round out his game to become the best, most effective player he can become. The power forward’s shooting this season has shown marked improvement from his first two years in the league; he’s making 2.3-of-5.2 attempts from the 16-to-23 foot range, according to Hoopdata.com. Griffin averaged 3.5 shots from 16-to-23 feet before this season, but the confidence he has in his new form, thanks to countless correctly executed repetitions in the gym, have led to less hesitation and more certainty in his shot.
“He says that when he shoots the basketball now, he thinks ‘it’s going to go in,’ and that he doesn’t ‘second-guess’ anymore,” according to an LA Times article that came out today.
As the league progresses forward, with the court opening up thanks to prolific drivers who cannot be hand-checked and who command constant attention, there will always be spots for guys who can spot up and consistently hit shots.
According to Thompson, there should always be a guy who’s helping these players to succeed behind the scenes.
“Every team should have a shooting coach,” said Thompson. “That’s one of the specialized things. I think every team should have a big man coach and every team should have a shooting coach and it’s good to only have one guy that does it because I don’t want to tell a guy one thing on his shot because it may be different than the expert. I just tell them ‘Go talk to Dave about your shot.’ He’ll tell them exactly what they’re doing wrong and how to correct it.”
It will happen, “In time,” as Walt Clyde Frazier advised yesterday.
Though if every shooting coach could shoot and teach like Hopla, it’d likely happen a bit quicker.
“The fact that he can do it,” said Copeland. “If you’ve ever seen one of his clinics, he’s proven he knows how to shoot the ball. He’s not telling you like he’s a guy who’s just talking about it. He really knows how to do it and he can go out there and beat you in shooting and I think as players we respect that.”
12/4/2012 1:18 PM