Chip Engelland has pulled off a rare basketball double: He has won with Gregg Popovich and lost with Mike Krzyzewski. Engelland has been a Spurs assistant under Pop for 17 years, winning two championships and establishing himself as one of the best shooting coaches in the world. But four decades ago he was a Duke forward during Krzyzewski’s first three years at the school, when the Blue Devils finished twice with losing records and never made the NCAA tournament.
Nobody, including Engelland, knew then that Krzyzewski would become one of the best basketball coaches ever. But years of seeing Popovich’s greatness firsthand in San Antonio and Coach K’s from afar have helped him understand how he did.
“They’re thinking about the team all the time,” Engelland says. “They’re just trying to figure out how everything’s gonna work together. And that could be from the walk-on players at Duke or the Spurs’ two-way players. Those are all important decisions. It’s not just: How do we handle the star? They’re thinking about the walk-on player who may not play a minute that season.”
