former raptors coach hopla helps Wiz shoot the lights out

[bill russell]

... and compete against us for a playoff spot...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/b ... dv12.1495/

"Entering Thursday, the Wizards were tied for third in the NBA in free-throw shooting percentage at 79, an improvement on last season's 76.5 and on pace to break the franchise record. The only teams with better percentages are the Dallas Mavericks, who employ a full-time free-throw coach, and the Raptors.

The Wizards also have higher field-goal and 3-point shooting percentages than in 2006-07, which could help explain why they are in the thick of things in the East despite a host of injuries that include losing Arenas to knee surgery.

Given the importance of putting the ball in the net, one might think all of the NBA's 30 teams would have a shooting coach. After all, all Major League Baseball teams have batting coaches and pitching coaches and bullpen coaches. But fewer than half of the NBA's clubs have someone teaching shooting full-time.

Note these numbers: Seven of the top eight teams in the Western Conference employ a shooting coach. None of the seven worst teams in the Eastern Conference does...

The Wizards didn't have such a coach last season, when Brendan Haywood, for example, dipped to 54.8 percent on free throws, putting his career average below 60 percent. After a few months with Hopla, Haywood is at 71.5 percent. Caron Butler's shooting percentages are at career-best levels on field goals (49., 3s (40.9) and free throws (88.7)."

[dillio]

damn, why'd he leave?

[steve101]

$$$ and I belive they gave him an asst. coach title. or at least there paying him like one

[bill russell]

looks like we shot .460 from the floor last year compared to .400 so far this year. i suppose shot selection is a bigger factor, however

[99 Problems]

We should have kept him or at least replaced him... Makes no sense...

Hump, Bargs, CB4, Delfino, Moon, AP- all those guys could use a shooting coach...

And does it make sense a team built around jump shooting doesn't have a shooting coach?

[peteyjones13]

when he left people didn't make so much of it, but I pointed out, and people should've realized that it was a HUGE loss for our team.

[N1QUE24]

Ford is a huge loss, not some random shooting coach.

Let's be frank here.. these players made it to the league without Hopla's help. Blaming the shooting woes because of Hopla leaving is just plain (Please Use More Appropriate Word). Excuses, excuses.

[peteyjones13]

i agree it a stupid excuse, but facts are facts, he contributed to our phenomenal shooting last year, and has also helped the wizards improve their shooting. He is the master of his trade, and is a very useful coach for any team to have on their payroll. It's stupid to blame shooting woes on him, but hey he was a big loss.

[thecc]

looks like we shot .460 from the floor last year compared to .400 so far this year. i suppose shot selection is a bigger factor, however

I agree we need a shooting coach with several players whose shooting percentages have dropped several percentage points from last year, but at least get the facts right. We're shooting 44.95% from the field, 16th in the league.

[maddskizzle]

I met Dave Hopla when he was in town earlier this year and he said his only reason for leaving the Raptors was to be closer to this family. His wife could not move to Toronto with him because she could not practice her profession (forgot what it was) outside of the United States or something like that and his daughter is in university and he only saw her 4x all of last year.

Said it was extremely hard to go to Brian to tell him he wasnt coming back but said he had an awesome time with the Raptors and would have stayed if it wasnt for his family. We sure do miss him!

[Cassius]

So, we're still top 3 in FT% and are shooting 1% lower without our best distributor playing and our 3rd best shooter playing like garbage.

Hopla was great, but it's the lack of open shots and Andrea's feminine play that are hurting us.

[alysomji]

The fact that so many of the top teams in the L have shooting coaches makes me wonder why the Raps haven't considered hiring a replacement for Hopla.

[chsh22]

We need a toughness and intensity coach.

[tb40]

I met Dave Hopla when he was in town earlier this year and he said his only reason for leaving the Raptors was to be closer to this family. His wife could not move to Toronto with him because she could not practice her profession (forgot what it was) outside of the United States or something like that and his daughter is in university and he only saw her 4x all of last year.

Said it was extremely hard to go to Brian to tell him he wasnt coming back but said he had an awesome time with the Raptors and would have stayed if it wasnt for his family. We sure do miss him!

I was really pissed when I heard we lost Hopla [I was looking for a house this past summer and didn't have time to bitch about it], but if this is true then it's understandable of course.

BC should however look for a replacement, since we are basically a jump shooting team. Even a slight increase in shooting pct. would make a huge impact, and Hopla's presense here last year, imo was a major overlooked factor in our success last year.

Over all, I am a major proponent of specialized coaching and training, and this team could use it especially Bargs of course. It's these guys behind the scenes, the assistants, and the specialized coaches that make or break your team imo, and I would like to see BC improve the team in this area.

[Antoine_Wright21]

Ford is a huge loss, not some random shooting coach.

Let's be frank here.. these players made it to the league without Hopla's help. Blaming the shooting woes because of Hopla leaving is just plain (Please Use More Appropriate Word). Excuses, excuses.

+ 1 yet again.