People got hyped about Canaan at the draft because of his combination of shooting and athleticism. There was talk about how he was a steal even from the ESPN guys. Will Isaiah step up and take the PG minutes? Beverley is likely the starter but after him, the competition should be wide open. The only other options are rookie Johnson, undrafted Daniels and Ish Smith and 37-year-old Jason Terry. If he doesn't beat out these guys for a role, this will not look good for his career.
He will fight with Garcia to avoid the final cut. I bet for Nick Johnson as our backup PG facing the playoffs, with Terry/Daniels as the backup SGs.
Cannot-aan sounds too much like the pharoah Akhenaten, who was a sun-worshipper. Hmmm, maybe this means we're trading Canaan to the Suns...
I was thinking about it last night and this morning and I think Johnson may end up being the perfect fit as the backup PG moving forward. He's easily the most athletic guy of the bunch, he can create for himself and others and he can defend either guard position. The real question will be how quickly he can find his 3-point stroke. That may end up being the deciding factor for the front office. Who ends up being the best outside shooter of the group and can still run an offense in a pinch? The Rockets bench last year was dreadful from beyond the arc and given Morey's love of the 3-point shot, he needs guys off that bench who can hit threes consistently. But to me, Canaan and Ish Smith seem like identical players. Both are quick, diminutive PGs who can penetrate well and get to the rim. If I'm Morey I keep the better 3-point shooter of the two and Johnson and just give minutes to whoever proves himself on a game-by-game basis.
Honestly.. I don't think so. Yeah, dude can score okay-ish.. but.. that's about it. If he gets cut I won't be surprised.
As it stands the Rockets need a backup PG. If only Morey could manage to somehow snare Nate Wolters from Minny.
My main questions are on his defense. I am not sure he can play well enough defensively for McHale to play him. On offense, he struggled with speed of the game, but was able to get good looks. I suspect he'll start knocking down threes at a good percentage (37 or greater) if he can play defense well enough to get regular PT.
I think Nick Johnson takes the backup PG spots with Canaan being a bench warmer because Jason Terry will get any 3rd PG minutes and that's without factoring in Ish Smith. Troy Daniels and The Jet are also the backup SGs........I don't see a place for Canaan unless he can beat out Nick Johnson.
My Ipad made some disturbing noise this morning and the whole office thought its a fire alert and everyone was running for their lives, turn out it's just a notification/alert for a new Carl Herrera post. Thanks Carl.
The role of the supporting guard next to Harden isn't really that complex. 3 & D. Can you hit threes, and can you D up the best perimeter player on the opposing team? Yeah, I think he looks the part that he can fit that role if needed. With Canaan the question really becomes, "Can he replace what Jeremy Lin did last year coming off the bench" to be a 6th man play maker? Honestly Jeremy Lin wasn't even really a GOOD 6th man scoring guard(had occasional games of massive amounts of turnovers, bone headed plays, and lapses on defense), but he at least game the Rockets some sort of punch and was really good about at least pushing the tempo a bit and catching the defense off guard. I don't think that's really Canaan's game just yet. I think he can play fine off of Harden if he was called on to be the starter, and I think he will be fine as a backup PG who can shoot the ball, and defend well enough. The main question (assuming he still comes off the bench) is going to be, can he be dynamic enough offensively to play outside of their system to create the scoring punch that 2nd unit really needs? If not, they are going to have to find a way to go inside to get that scoring punch with the 2nd unit.