I have had doubts about him since the beginning. He can shoot, but that is all he can do. A very small SG in a PG's body. I hope he will play better in the regular season.
Most of the guys that got sent to the D-League Morris, Patterson, Jones, D-Mo and Beverly have all come in the second season and found minutes in the rotation. I hope the same for Canaan but I just haven't seen enough of his against good competition to make that judgement.
But, the same is true of most of his competition. Everyone seems to think Nick Johnson is some kind of stud, but he's still a second rounder who hasn't played an NBA game yet. I'll be very surprised if he gets any burn. We all love Ish Smith for a smidge of potential he showed when he was last here, but that was 4 years ago and he hasn't exactly set the league on fire in the interim. Daniels is some kind of hero for stroking the 3-ball for a handful of games last year, but he's a minor league call-up. The only really legit player is Jason Terry and it's not clear that his body can still perform. The first test is if Terry can still play. If he can, he has the minutes. If he can't, Smith, Johnson, Daniels, and Canaan get to slug it out for a slot. Probably the back-up minutes will bounce between a couple of them as McHale gets fed up with the shortcomings of each of his options.
for real? Lin and Bev are proven NBA commodities Pls no comparison till both have played more NBA games
So now hyping is simply stating a players skill set? Here's what I've said about Canaan: 1. He's a better player than Lin. 2. He is a highly skilled offensive player. 3. He is the second best perimeter playmaker on this current roster. 4. He is NOT a difference maker defensively. Hype? LOL
The only one of those that isn't hype is #4 #1 Maybe one day, even one day soon, not today #2 He can shoot well, but he's not a lot more than that. #3 Ish is definitely better, Bev is probably better at this point, and Papa might also be better
I liked Canaan last year. I don't know how the PG situation will play out, but I'm not super optimistic for him. McHale seems to be leaning on Ish as the leading candidate right now - maybe that's just a quirk of preseason, but maybe not. Canaan hasn't shown me much as an offensive playmaker. Ish has shown a bit of promise on both ends even though I hate his unwillingness to shoot. Canaan's young though. Maybe in February it's a whole different story.
Saying Canaan is better than Lin isn't hype UNLESS you think Lin is a great player. Obviously he can shoot well. And obviously he can break down his defender and finish. And obviously when he breaks down his defender after awhile he collapses the defense and finds guys for own shots. Ish and Bev are better defenders. Canaan is better than them offensively.
Lin is ranked much higher with ESPN 1) He is highly skilled offensive player in the Dleague but in the NBA there are at least 150 players better offensively 2) He is not better playmaker than Beverley, Ish Smith, Harden, Ariza and even other non guards have better court vision 3) His court vision is suspect You got that right..... and he is worse 4)
Offense is not only scoring. Offense is making plays for other players, shooting a nice percentage, scoring in many ways. Against good defenders and long arms he has problems scoring or getting to the hole. All he does is shooting jump shots.
I am just quoting this as reference to your fancy for Canaan. I am really confused about why you are so high on Rubio and Canaan. Even after your explanations the glaring fact that the two have sucked in the NBA (you will argue Rubio hasn't) keeps me from believing.
Smith and Canaan are not even close to identical players. They really couldn't be more different. Also... Canaan isn't good at finishing at the rim. He's small and has short arms. He gets stuffed almost every time he tries to finish inside. The only thing Canaan is good at is hitting open 3's. Ish is a better defender, he's faster and finds the open man on the break, he is a much better passer and looks to pass first and gets offensive players open shots, etc. Completely different players.