If you follow me on Twitter (@KennyEller) or have liked my mevsMJ.com Facebook page, you’ve probably seen me mention the push-up challenge over the last couple of weeks.

Thank you to those of you that have partaken in the fun!

Simply put, I pick a player that I think will score the most points during an NBA game and commit to doing 5 push-ups per point scored.  20 points = 100 push-ups and so on.

Well, that’s the modified version anyway.

The Story Behind the Push-Up Challenge

The original push-up challenge was born in 2008 during the NBA Finals.

I would routinely have my brother and a couple of friends over to the house to watch games.  With me loving challenges and competition (Are you ready to play yet MJ?) I wanted to make the Lakers vs. Celtics series a bit more interesting since none of us really had anything more in the game than just a love for hoops.

At the time, McDonald’s was running a special on cheeseburgers on certain days during the week for something like 59 cents each.  This will be relevant in just a bit…keep reading.  Oh and yes, back then I ate fast food much more than I do now!

So as the guys got to the house, I announced something like, “Let’s have a push-up challenge!”

Of the four of us there, everyone was really into it, except one, so they asked what the challenge was.

On the fly, I explained that we would all pick a different player and do 5 push-ups for each point that player scored.

AND

To make sure that we all pushed ourselves, the person who picked the weakest player would be penalized every single quarter.

The penalty was, if your player scored the fewest points, resulting in you doing the least amount of push-ups, you had to eat a McDonald’s Cheeseburger at the end of each quarter.

Also if your player finished the game with the least amount of points scored, you had to eat another cheeseburger.

So if we all picked strong players, we all had a chance at the penalty, on top of a lot of push-ups.

That was the goal anyway and it started out just as planned, for 30 seconds.

My brother called out, “I’ve got Kobe!”

I said, “I’ll take Pierce.”

Another friend said, “Give me Garnett.”

Kendrick Perkins?

And then Karol, who stands a legit 6’5” (I’ve measured him with tape measure) and who vehemently detested push-ups (he does have long arms), let us know with a laugh that he was taking Kendrick Perkins.

During the 2007-2008 NBA Season Perkins averaged 6 points in just over 24 minutes per game.  He ended up mirroring that in the playoffs.

Kobe on the other hand averaged 28, Pierce 19 and Garnett 18 in the regular season and their numbers only improved in the post season.

Can you see where this is going?

You got it, that night my good friend; the other “KG”, did just a few push-ups, but ATE 5 CHEESEBURGERS!!!

Seeing him get up for each “cheeseburger penalty” at the end of every quarter and then at the end of the game was one of the funniest things ever!  We all had a good laugh about it!

Who knew that would be the last meat he’d eat?!?!

He immediately thereafter went vegetarian and then later vegan and while I’m sure he’d give that night a lot of the credit as the turning point in his dietary ways, we can’t forget about Kendrick Perkins!  For without Perkins, who knows what Karol would be eating these days?

That was the last night we included the cheeseburgers in the challenge.  I think it was more due to them not being on special, than Karol’s unwilling indulgent experience, but for whatever reason we kept the challenge to just push-ups.

That’s the story behind the push-up challenge.

OK, there’s a game tonight!  Who’s In?!?!

####

Connect:  Twitter (@KennyEller) and mevsMJ.com Facebook Fan Page.

####

If you’re new to the site, I set out in August 2010 to get a game of 1-on-1 vs. my childhood hero Michael Jordan.  This site is about that journey…through every valley, to every mountain top of triumph!

With pizza slices the size of my head and two large bowls of Italian wedding soup in front of us, the greatest basketball shooter in the World sat across from me in a small Italian restaurant located in Naples, Florida, looked at me with his intense sky blue colored eyes and said…

“If you want to be the greatest shooter in the world it’s simple.  You’ve got to do two things.  First, you’ve got to shoot with correct form.  Then you have to shoot the ball correctly more times than anyone else in the world.”

In full ShamWow mode, trying to soak up every bit of knowledge, I nodded my head in agreement and took another bite of pizza.

It sounded so simple.

We were almost three hours in to our meeting and to this point the man sporting Jordan gear from head to toe had made everything seem so simple.  I suppose I should have expected as much, as he is without debate the very best at what he does.

Only one person can have other people, NBA people, refer to them as the best shooter in the universe and that man is Dave Hopla.

What Future NBA Hall of Famers Say:

Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

“I never miss an opportunity to work with Dave.  He’s the best in the business.”

Ray Allen, Boston Celtics

“Dave has not only helped my shooting, but he improved my overall game.  He has given me the confidence in all phases of my game.”

The Stats to Prove It (Dave Hopla’s Personal Records):

• 1234 free throws in a row.
• 211 high school 3-pointers in a row.
• 181 college 3-pointers in a row.
• 78 NBA 3-pointers in a row.

####

The Man That Makes Over 98% Of His Shots!

For Hopla who played college ball in Nebraska before playing professional basketball overseas and in the CBA, he wasn’t always the greatest shooter.  It’s something that he has worked on for the better part of his life.

Encouraged at the age of 16 by a coach, while at a basketball camp, Dave began tracking every shot he took.

Now 53 years old, he can flip through one of 58 notebooks and tell you the percentage of every free throw, off the dribble jumper, college three pointer, NBA three pointer, etc. that he took on any given day over the last 37 years!

That kind of shooting prowess led him to start Dave Hopla Shooting Clinics in 1987, where he goes around and teaches his mastery of shooting all over the world as a shooting instructor and motivational speaker.

It also landed him an assistant coaching job with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors and then Washington Wizards from 2005-2009.

Want Stats?

In 2004 he made 98.89% of his shots!  In 2005 he shot a blistering 98.20%, making 35,332 of 35,979 shots!

During the summer of 2007 he attended 31 camps where he shot 99.19% (11,093 of 11,183)!!  A further breakdown will show you that Dave was 260 for 281 from the 3-point line for a percentage of 92.52% and on three occasions he was perfect from the field (263 of 263 on 6/25 at the University of Maryland, 339 of 339 on 7/28 at the CT Starters camp and 272 of 272 on 8/2 at UCLA) during his lecture.

Oh yeah, I forgot, he gives his motivational speech WHILE HE IS SHOOTING!!!!!

####

How I Got To Meet The Master

While down in Miami a couple of weeks ago, I saw a tweet from the NBA that said, “When you’re training in the offseason, do you keep a log of how many shots you make?  Why you should.”  Lounging on the bed in the hotel room at the time, I clicked the link, read the title “The Man Who Doesn’t Miss Shots”, perked up and read thoroughly.  Within 30 seconds my jaw was scraping the floor.  My mind was telling me this couldn’t possibly be true.

“Could someone be this great?” I asked myself, still filled with doubt.

I’ve always considered myself and my brother (159 free throws in a row) really good shooters (I now think of myself as a great shooter in the making…more on this later), so to read that someone hardly ever misses seemed a bit far fetched.  To read that someone could give a speech and shoot AND make every single shot, seemed undoable!

I know basketball.  It’s what I’ve done more than anything else in my life and anyone who’s every played with me will tell you that I can shoot the ball.

I went into a trance and began searching for every single thing I could find on Dave Hopla.  I had to know more.

After reading several articles and watching a couple of videos I was amazed.  It was like someone had just proven to me that Santa Claus is REAL!

I went to Dave’s website and sent him an email on April 6th, explaining my goal here at mevsMJ.com and my wish to work with him.  Pleasantly to my surprise, he responded right back.  Within a couple of hours we were on the phone discussing when we could meet.  He just happened to be coming down to Florida seven days later and said that he would give me a call when he got in and make some time for me then.

I was so excited!  So thankful for such a blessing!  This was BIG!

I called my brother and told him of Hopla and his shooting percentages, to which he responded, “No way! What’s he tracking lay-ups!”

I understood his lack of belief.  I had felt the same way before I read numerous NBA players singing his praise.  Before I saw him make 17 consecutive NBA three pointers in 60 seconds (video below).

It did truly seem like some sort of tall tale from back when we were kids, yet it wasn’t.

A week later, like clockwork, Dave Hopla called and asked if I could make it down to Naples on Friday, the 15th.  A quick check of my calendar and I enthusiastically said, “YES!”

####

I arrived at the compound (the friend’s property he and his family were staying at was truly amazing) around 8:45am, about 15 minutes early, only to find Dave waiting at the gate, notepad in hand.

I parked my car down Pistol Pete Lane (seriously, how cool is that!) got out, thanked Dave again for meeting with me, and the lessons began.

We entered the gym and he placed his notepad down, to which I asked, “Is that where you track all of your shots?”

He confirmed that it was one of many and asked me for any date.  I gave him May 25^th, to which he said with a smile, “That’s your birthday right.”

A little surprised, I said yes and he explained that birthdays are what most people give.

He quickly flipped through the notebook until he got to May 25^th 2010.  There on a page of notebook paper were diagrams detailing where he shot on the court and a lot of numbers.  On that day in May, Dave made 295 of 314 shots for a percentage of 93.94%…an off day for him.

He then grabbed a basketball and took me through his form shooting routine that he does before every workout.  It consists of starting with one hand (shooting hand) a few feet from the basket and making five shots before moving back a couple feet and making five more and so on.  Dave’s last five shots come from the NBA three-point mark.  He then adds the support hand and goes through the same routine.

The key in the above is adding the principles below:

• Toes to Target: make sure your toes are pointing to the basket.
• Feet shoulder-width apart.
• Form the letter L with your shooting arm.
• Wrinkle the wrist: the skin on your wrist should wrinkle up when you cock it.
• Bend and extend your legs.
• Make sure your elbow is above your eyebrow.
• Hand to the hoop.
• Freeze the follow-through.

With eyes that couldn’t believe what they were seeing, I watched Dave make shot after shot with one hand, most of them nothing but net, while he was talking to me.  He then continued the same shooting dominance adding his support hand.  It was mind boggling to me.

The Mind of the Greatest Shooter

As you may know, I’m working to make 100 free throws in a row before 10/21/2011.  Thus far I’m up to 34 makes in a row and one of the things I was most interested in with Dave was the mental aspect of being able to stay focused and calm while trying to stay perfect.

I explained to him that when I get close to whatever my current high is, I can feel the weight of every shot increase.  I have to calm my breathing down, etc.

He said that he just thinks about each individual shot, whether it’s the first one or the 500^th in a row.  He told me to not think about the next one, because you won’t get to the next one if you don’t make the current shot.

He then told me to step to the line and, “let’s see what you’ve got.”

Shooting Free Throws In Front Of The Best

I stepped to the line, took a couple of dribbles and made my first three free throws.  I really wasn’t that nervous because I know I can shoot the ball.  Still, there was definitely the feeling of I BETTER MAKE THESE going through me.

I missed my fourth and Dave went into correction mode.

He asked me, “How do you know where to line up at the free throw line?”

I didn’t really know.  I just lined up and shot.

He then stepped to the line and showed me the Tac, which is at the center of every free throw line and explained that he lines up there so that he knows he’s in the same spot each and every time.

He then asked, “What do you look at when you shoot the ball?”

Now I know that many people either look at the front or back of the rim when they shoot, but I honestly have never really focused on either.  So I told him the truth, that I didn’t really know what I looked at, I just shot the ball.

It was the right answer, kind of!

He said if you focus on the front of the rim, you’re focusing on being short on your shot and if you focus on the back of the rim you’re focusing on being long on your shot.  He told me to focus on the center of the basket because that’s where I wanted the ball to go.

He then showed me where he places his shooting hand on the ball.  He explained that there are several center points on an NBA basketball, one of them being the valve.  So every time he’s shooting free throws the valve is between the index and middle finger of his shooting hand.  This ensures that his hands are properly aligned each and every shot.

I stepped back to the line, “Toe, Tac, Target, Find the valve” and began firing away, getting encouragement and reminders to freeze my follow through, along the way.

After a couple of hours and numerous shooting lessons and stories we headed to lunch, where we discussed my journey to play Michael Jordan and the progress thus far, as well as his experience working with many NBA greats.

It was as if I had known Dave Hopla for years.

####

Shooting Contest (Me vs. Hopla!)

We came back from lunch and I wanted to get a picture with him before I set off back home, so he asked his wife if she would take a picture of us back at the court.  She said of course and while she was completing what she was doing, we went back to the gym to shoot around.

Actually we had a shooting contest!

Dave picked five spots on the court from 15-17 feet (the same five the NBA uses for the 3-point contest) and instructed that in order to move from the first spot to the next, you’d have to make five shots in a row.  The first to complete this, make the 25 shots, would win.

He said I could go first.

Now keep in mind, we had just come back from an hour and a half lunch and had done no stretching or warming up whatsoever!

I took my first shot and it clanked off the rim.  Not good.  After seeing Dave shoot in person, I knew I wouldn’t get many chances.

Luckily for me, he missed his first shot too!

With relief, I stepped up and attempted to capitalize, but missed my second shot as well.

Game Over.

Dave stepped up and made 25 in a row!  One shot right after the other, in rapid succession.  I was passing the ball to him and laughing at the same time, it was unreal!

Who does that with no warm up shots?  Dave Hopla does.

Not thoroughly beaten enough, I asked for more.  So Dave said ok, we’ll do the same five spots from three-point land (I of course still had to make the 25 15-17 footers before I got to the 3-pt line).

He took the ball and missed his first three pointer.

I made two or three in a row from spot number one and then he caught fire.  He finished me off with 20 consecutive makes from three point range.  I was still stuck at spot numero uno.

Dave’s wife came in about that time and took our picture.  I told her that I almost had him beat, to which she kinda of gave me a very polite YEAH RIGHT look…haha!

Still in awe, he asked me if I wanted to do another contest.  I of course said yes!

This time we would shot from the same ten spots, but in order to move to the next you had to swish the shot, nothing but net.  If the ball even grazed the rim, you lost possession of the ball.

I again started first and quickly found myself down five shots.

Then it happened.  I dialed it in and got on a roll.

I made 6 shots in a row, all swishes, nothing but net, including four three pointers!  I was getting perfect passes and being cheered on and encouraged by Dave Hopla, the very best in the world!!

It was so surreal!

In the end I lost that one too, but I had a blast!

I said my goodbyes and with a “I can’t believe that just happened” feeling running throughout me, I got in my car and headed home so incredibly thankful.

####

So Much More Than The Best Shooter In The World

Dave Hopla is far more than the best shooter in the World.  In the five or so hours we spent together, not only did he give me a clinic in shooting, he left me with many life lessons.  Lessons that I will apply to my daily living.  Lessons that will impact all of those around me.  For that, I am truly thankful.

I’ve been saying for a couple of months that life truly is amazing if you allow it to be.  Meeting Dave Hopla is an example of just that.  An email led to a phone call, which led to a meeting, which led to a friendship.

The amount of time and kindness shown to me on his VACATION blew me away.  That amount of generosity and selflessness truly makes me want to be a better human.

He is without doubt one of the nicest and kindest people I’ve ever met.

Thank you Mr. Dave Hopla!

Tracking My Shots!

The next morning, now back at home, I got into the local gym around 8:30am and tracked every single shot.

453 makes out of 600 shots (not a planned number) for a percentage of 75.5%. (click here to see breakdown of shots)

While my numbers are far from Hopla-esque, I found much joy in the experience.

I could hear Dave rooting me on.  “Toe, Tac, Target!”, “Never hit the front of the rim, give the shot a chance!”, “Way to shoot the ball!”

When he teaches, the impact that’s made is called the Hopla Effect.

The Hopla effect was definitely made on me and that’s bad news for my upcoming opponents! (Are you reading this MJ? ;-))

The Great One Checking In

Over the past week Dave has checked in with me a couple of times through text or phone call to hear about my progress.  I told him that I am tracking every shot and that people are looking at me funny, but that they just don’t understand.

He offered another lesson:

“In order to be great, you have to be different.  Otherwise you will be average or good at best.  Keep charting shots.”

Greatness, here I come!!

####

Dave Setting Records and Teaching! (Videos):

Dave Setting the Record for Most NBA 3 Pointers made from the corner in 1 minute with one ball and one passer:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shDlDnozpLM

Dave Breaking the World Record for most Free Throws with one ball and one passer in 1 minute (25 makes in a row):
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2_T3ivNKfs&feature=related

Dave Hopla Free Throw Instruction:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TOUBG1kCJg&feature=BFa&list=PL3F39FC6A9E51C062&index=2

[If you’re reading this via email or RSS feed the videos may not show up.  Click here to view.]

Some Of My Favorite Hopla-isms

During our time together Dave said many things that stuck with me.  These are a few of my favorites!

“No one remembers pretty good, so be great!”

“Anyone can make shots. I want swishes!”

“You hear everyone saying that took this many shots.  Who cares about shots?  I care about makes!”

“I don’t call them rebounders, I call them passers.  Rebounder refers to you missing.  I plan on making every shot!”

More on Dave Hopla

If you’d like more information on Dave Hopla, you can check out his website, www.DaveHopla.com.  You can also follow Dave on Twitter.

iHopla Coming Soon!!

Dave is in the process of bringing everything he’s done for the last 37 years and turning that into an iPhone application called iHopla.  He hopes to have it available to everyone looking to be GREAT very soon!

I’ve seen how it’s going to look and I can’t wait!!

####

Connect:  Twitter (@KennyEller) and mevsMJ.com Facebook Fan Page.

####

If you’re new to the site, I set out in August 2010 to get a game of 1-on-1 vs. my childhood hero Michael Jordan.  This site is about that journey…through every valley, to every mountain top of triumph! 

I’ve been excited to announce this to everyone and late last night I got the confirmation.

It’s BIG!

Tomorrow morning I will have something in common with Michael Jordan!!!

Tomorrow I take the NEXT GIGANTIC STEP in my preparation to play the greatest basketball player in the world, Michael Jordan…by working with the greatest basketball shooter in the world, Dave Hopla!!!

Dave Hopla (The Greatest Basketball Shooter in the World!)

Imagine making more than 98% of the shots you take! (In 2007 Hopla, who writes down the results of ever shot he takes, made 99.19% making 11,093 of 11,183)

Envision draining 1,234 free throws in a row without a miss.

Dream of making 211 high school 3-pointers in a row without a miss.

Fantasize dropping 181 college 3-pointers in a row without a miss.

Visualize yourself shooting and watching 78 NBA 3-pointers go in, in a row without a miss.

I can only imagine, envision, dream of, fantasize and visualize (right now), but that is Dave Hopla’s life!

He’s the greatest basketball shooter in the world!

He makes shots!

Besides his “Airness”, Hopla has personally worked with the likes of future Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant and Ray Allen.  He has also worked over the years with numerous NBA, WNBA and College teams to improve their shooting percentages.

Now, around 11am on Friday morning, Dave Hopla will work with me!

I AM SO EXCITED, THANKFUL and HUMBLED!!!

Anything is possible!!!

me vs. MJ…the journey continues!!!

*For more information on Dave Hopla, check out his website www.davehopla.com.