Wizards Cash In on Some 'Free' Advice

Butler has extended his range to the point that he's already made 45 three-pointers this season after never connecting on more than 41 during his previous five campaigns. He says he holds conversations with himself sometimes when he's at specific areas of the court.

"You may think, 'This is my sweet spot,' because you know you make shots there, but when you see it written down in front of you on paper, you know, 'These are my numbers,' " Butler said. "It's different."

Hopla's consistent advice to Butler is to "freeze his finish," meaning he encourages Butler to hold his follow-through on his shot until the ball reaches the basket. In the past, Butler had a tendency to pull his hand back as soon as he released the ball.

"He's so quick with his release, he tends to drop his hand," Hopla said. "And that can tend to leave the shot short because you're not getting enough arc on the shot."

Gilbert Arenas has known Hopla since Arenas was just a skinny teenager overly infatuated with dunking; then he saw Hopla go through his extensive shooting routine at a basketball camp.

What Arenas saw that day explains why accomplished NBA players with huge contracts pay attention to the short, former small college player who never sniffed the NBA.

"I went to this camp in the summer and I was like every kid, all I wanted to do was dunk," Arenas said. "And then I saw this guy go out there and start making shot after shot and I was like: forget dunking, I want to be like this guy. This guy can shoot it."

Hopla often puts on shooting displays when he conducts basketball camps, and over the years he has meticulously tracked his own shooting patterns. He says he once made 1,234 free throws in a row, and his personal record for consecutive made NBA distance three-pointers is 78.

"It makes a big difference when guys actually see what you can do as opposed to if I walked in and never shot the ball and started to try to tell guys how to shoot," said Hopla. "What has really helped me a lot is I made an impression on Gilbert when he was a kid, DeShawn [Stevenson] saw me at camps when he was younger and Caron saw me when he was at [Connecticut], so that has helped a lot. And then, this is a good group of guys to work with. Very coachable. It's been a really rewarding experience."

Notes: Raptors point guard Jose Calderon has flourished in the absence of injured T.J. Ford and helped Toronto (24-19) win seven of its last nine games.

In January, Calderon has averaged 14.5 points and 10.1 assists while shooting 52.7 percent from the field. He ranks fifth in the NBA in assists (8.6) and leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (371 to 67).

The Wizards know all about Calderon because he's hurt them in the past with his ability to run the pick-and-roll to perfection with forward Chris Bosh and the team's other versatile big men.

"He's always been solid but now he's really got it going because he's playing more minutes with T.J. out," Jordan said. "His confidence is rising and they do things that are conducive to his strengths. It's really pick your poison with him because he can really hurt you."