Steve Bulpett back from the world's longest vacation says:
BOSTON HERALD
9-30-98
C's new
assistant has
the touch:
Pitino
welcomes
aboard
shooting guru
by Steve
Bulpett
09/30/98
SALEM -- The
Celtics have
gone by the
numbers to
hire a new
assistant
coach. No
official
announcement
has been made
yet, but
shooting
expert Andy
Enfield has
been added to
the staff.
The Celts were
14th in the
NBA in scoring
last season,
which is
fairly amazing
considering
they were
fifth from the
bottom of the
league in
field goal
percentage and
tied for ninth
worst from the
free throw
line.
"Basically I
looked at our
basketball
team and saw
that shooting
was a real
deficiency,"
coach and team
president Rick
Pitino said
before teeing
off in the Red
Auerbach
Foundation
golf
tournament
yesterday.
"I thought I
was teaching
offensive
moves and
shooting, and
I looked at
our basketball
team and said,
wait a second
now, the
primary
weakness we
have is foul
shooting. Then
I look at our
outside
shooting, and,
outside of
maybe one guy
(he probably
means Dana
Barros, but he
can't say the
name because
of the NBA's
lockout gag
order), that's
lacking, too."
Enfield, 29,
set the NCAA
record for
career free
throw
percentage
(around .925)
while at Johns
Hopkins. He
went on to get
his MBA from
the University
of Maryland,
and with
business and
shooting
strengths, he
began working
with NBA
players and
eventually put
out an
instructional
video with
Glen Rice.
"I worked with
Walt Williams
first,"
Enfield said
yesterday. "He
was struggling
with
Sacramento,
and he was
able to raise
his free throw
and 3-point
percentages.
Through him, I
got to work
with other
players."
The list
includes Grant
Hill, Alonzo
Mourning and
Rice, and from
the video with
the latter, he
caught the
attention of
Pitino.
"Coach Pitino
flew me in for
a day (late
last season)
and I worked
with a few
players,"
Enfield said.
"And I guess
he liked what
I did."
After seeing
his team shoot
43 percent
from the floor
and 72.6
percent from
the line,
Pitino decided
a new approach
was needed.
"I usually
work on the
drills and the
repetition of
the drills,"
he said. "But
it's like a
golf swing.
When you can
get it down to
the actual
video taping
that shows the
technique of
the elbow to
the head to
everything,
that can
really help.
And this man
is a master at
it. So I hired
him."
The
relationship,
according to
both, will be
a two-way
street.
Enfield will
be getting his
first taste of
life on the
bench while
wearing a
suit. While
Jim O'Brien
and new hire
Lester Conner
will be the
main aides,
Enfield and
Kevin Willard
will provide
on-site
support. John
Carroll will
continue to be
the Celts'
advance scout.
"He's going to
lend his
shooting
expertise to
us," Pitino
said of
Enfield, "and
we're going to
give him our
basketball
expertise in
scouting and
learning to be
a full-fledged
coach in every
phase of the
game. And
that's what he
very much
wants to be.
"He's a
shooting guru.
But what I
told him is
that he could
go other
places and be
a shooting
coach; with us
he's going to
be a coach."
Said Enfield:
"I took this
position to
get into more
things than
just shooting.
I think it's a
great
opportunity.
There's no one
better than
coach Pitino
to get the
experience
under.
"I had some
other
opportunities
I could have
pursued in the
league, but I
chose this
one."