From Kawhi Leonard to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, "The Shot Doctor" has transformed the NBA’s elite. Now, he brings that championship-caliber expertise to fix the Houston Rockets' struggling perimeter game.
The Houston Rockets made headlines earlier this week, and thankfully it was for all of the right reasons. While the signing of Isaiah Crawford went a bit under the radar, we did cover it here on Roundtable. It seems people were much more interested in the addition of an assistant coach, though.
Understandably so, as fans and media members alike have been pleading for the front office to bring in someone to help with the offense. In a way, they did just that. I’m not sure how much he’ll be helping Ime Udoka with the X’s and O’s out on the court, but the Rockets just hired Chip Engelland away from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
He’s regarded as one of the best shooting coaches in the world, even being called “The Shot Doctor,” as seen here on Roundtable. This obviously gives fans a lot of hope, as there’s a lot of shots that need doctoring on this roster.
Maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but we all know Amen Thompson and Alperen Şengün could use the help. Any improvements that we can credit to Engelland outside of those two will just be a bonus in my book. I’m not asking him to have Clint Capela and Steven Adams stepping out beyond the arc.
But with your two star players and the future of your franchise both being below average from deep, something’s got to give. I’m glad there’s at least some change to help their development.
Speaking of development though, what exactly has Engelland done? What are his success stories? What’s his success rate? Why are people giving him such high praise with a nickname like that?
For starters, he’s gotten three NBA championships in the past 20 years, and is directly linked to the shooting improvements from all three Finals MVP’s. Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should all be thanking him.
SGA saw an immediate jump in his free throw percentage after The Shot Doctor joined the team in 2022, which is something nearly every player on the Rockets could use. He went from roughly 80-percent to consistently near 90-percent.
The three point percentage is less obvious, but the two-time MVP has also increased his volume and percentage there too. Even Lu Dort started to shoot a better percentage on lower volume from deep, per Basketball-Reference.
Engelland’s stint with the San Antonio Spurs can even be credited for Kawhi Leonard’s sniper capabilities nowadays. It was always odd how Leonard came out of college and couldn’t shoot at all, but then stepped into the league shooting 37.6-percent from deep.
He's never been below average in the league, and I’ve got to give some credit to The Shot Doctor. Hopefully we can get some noticeable results sooner rather than later in Houston, because this team drastically needs it.
