Sporting Chance

Former Northern Cement hotshot Arthur (Chip) Engelland is going places. Since taking Detroit Pistons star Grant Hill under his wing, Engelland has been hailed as the foremost shooting coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Hill hired Engelland to fine-tune his stroke last year. The move has reaped rich dividends for Hill. This season, he's posting career-high shooting figures. Hill is averaging 28.3 points and hitting 49.9 percent from the field, 40.8 percent from three-point range, and 82.1 percent from the line. He credits the rise in his numbers to Engelland.

Last September, Hill went on a whirlwind three-country European promotional tour for Fila and took Engelland along. Two hours a day, Engelland worked on Hill's shooting -- in a dank and dusty gym in Italy, on a slippery floor in Greece and on a court at an air force base in Germany.

"The facilities weren't the best but the good thing was that I was able to get my work in," related Hill, quoted by Jo-Ann Bamas of the Knight-Ridder Newspapers in Pro Basketball Today (Jan. 20-26 issue).

Hill, 28, said his timetable to improve is on target. "When Chip and I started working together, we (knew) it would all start coming together right around this time," he noted. "It's not so much of a surprise as it is meeting our expectations."

Bamas said the working relationship between Hill and Engelland was a natural evolution.

"Engelland is a fellow Duke grad," wrote Bamas. "Hill detected flaws in his shooting style -- especially his jumper. So he hired Engelland to be his guide. Engelland moved to the Detroit area and began working with Hill after practices. Then he began flying commercial to some games that Hill wanted him to attend. The Pistons must have liked what they saw. This season, they hire Engelland as a consultant. It also meant a seat on the team plane. Engelland doesn't just watch Hill shoot after practice and offer suggestions. After every game, he scouts tape of Hill and marks in a notebook all of Hill's offensive trips down the court. He charts where the shot was taken and who was guarding him."

Pistons coach Alvin Gentry said: "Chip has done a great job. The one thing that he's done is made Grant realize that in order to be a great player, you have to be able to shoot the ball consistently. He's convinced him that even when they don't go in, if they're good shots, don't worry about it. You have to keep shooting them because somewhere along the line, they will go in."

For his part, Engelland said: "The difference between last year and this year -- and I thought he had a good season last year -- has been his fluidness. He has a fluid, smooth, all-in-one motion now. And that happens with repetition. It becomes more natural as you practice it thousands and thousands of times like he has. But not just during the summer, but during the season. He puts up so many shots to maintain that type of comfort in the shot."

Engelland, who previously coached San Antonio Spurs guard Steve Kerr, gushed: "Grant's just committed to getting better. He's a Hall of Fame player whether he met me or not. What he's trying to do is have the peace of mind that when he lays his head on the pillow every night, that he's becoming -- with the gifts that he has and the talent he has -- that he's developing them to the best of his ability. That sums up what he's doing. Grant's always looking at the big picture. And what has made it a little more noticeable for Grant is that the Pistons are winning -- that's the real thing."

Although tied up to Hill, Engelland manages to tutor Kerr when he's called. "Chip is one of the greatest shooters I've ever seen and he also has a very analytical mind," said Kerr. "In the 1997 Finals, I was having a tough time and I called him. He thought it was my balance and we worked on it together. If I'm struggling, I'll give him a call."

Engelland said he'd rather be known as a coach than a shooting doctor. "I'm not trying to fix something that's broken," he explained. "I'm just trying to better fundamentals and the mental approach whether it's with youngsters, collegiate players or Steve. Working with Steve is like being the Maytag repairman. If he's on balance, the ball is going in. Even when he's off balance, it often goes in. But a couple of times, he and I will spot mechanics and we'll work on them."

Perhaps, Engelland's most memorable game was when he wore the San Miguel Beer colors and fired 43 points to fuel the Philippines' 108-100 overtime win over the US at the 1985 Jones Cup finals in Taipei. He also shone during San Miguel's stint at the World Club Championships in Gerona, Spain, that year. Engelland shot 20 points to key the Beermen's 98-79 win over Banco di Roma, an Italian squad led by NBA veterans Leroy Combs and Leo Rautins. He netted 21 in a close 81-73 loss to the US whose players included future NBA stars David Robinson, Chuck Person, Dell Curry, Rafael Addison and Larry Krystokwiak. He tallied 24 in a 111-86 setback to Cibona of Zagreb whose star was the late Drazen Petrovic. And Engelland was almost the hero in a 78-77 heartbreaking loss to Monte Libano of Brazil, bannered by the DeSouza brothers Marcel and Maury, import Rob Misevicius, and NBA veteran Joao Vianna.

In the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Engelland averaged 27.5 points in 78 games for Northern Cement in 1984 and 1985. He led Northern Cement, a guest amateur squad, to the 1985 PBA Third Conference crown.

Engelland, 38, will tour several countries in Asia with Hill this summer. If a Manila leg is included, he will stay an extra week here to hang out with former teammates Hector Calma and Alfie Almario.