‘He’s a Wizard’: Josh Giddey has High Praise for Newest Thunder Coach

Australian guard Josh Giddey had high praise for Oklahoma City's offseason hire.

After an exciting debut season cut short, Thunder guard Josh Giddey is ready to get back on the hardwood.

Scoring 12.5 points, dishing out 6.4 assists and coming down with 7.8 rebounds in 54 contests in Year 1, Giddey has lofty expectations in his sophomore season.

A forward-sized, do-it-all type player, there’s not much Giddey can’t do on the court. But there were certainly a few key areas for Giddey to address in the offseason. And address them he did.

“Shooting was a big one for me this off-season,” Giddey said in an interview with news.au.com. “Spent a lot of time in the gym getting up shots.”

Giddey shot just 41 percent overall from the field in the 2021-22 season. Potentially most importantly, he shot a dreadful 27 percent from beyond the arc on 3.9 attempts per contest.

After finishing dead last in three-point percentage last season, Oklahoma City also worked to address not just Giddey but the team’s shooting as a whole, hiring prolific shooting coach Chip Engelland away from the San Antonio Spurs organization.

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“Obviously having Chip Engelland here, one of the best shooting coaches if not the best in the world, here at the Thunder is someone that’s perfect for me to use as much as possible. He’s been great.” Giddey told news.au.com.

When asked if his shooting motion had been drastically tweaked, Giddey had strong praise for Engelland.

“Not really. Chip’s hard to explain. He’s a wizard with what he does. It’s not unorthodox but it’s different to every other coach that I’ve had, who’s said, ‘Shoot this way’. Chip is one of the best guys I’ve been around. He’s obviously been doing this for so long with San Antonio.”

As one of the premier shooting coaches in the world, the Engelland effect has already likely spread far and wise throughout the Thunder roster.

“When I found out he was coming to OKC I was very excited for that and knew he was someone I was going to be spending a lot of time with,” Giddey said. “He’s been great and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with him.”

Oklahoma City kicks off their season with a match against the new-look Timberwolves on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.

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