[The Monitor] Canaan back with Vipers to recover from injury

http://www.themonitor.com/sports/rio_grande_valley_vipers/canaan-back-with-vipers-to-recover-from-injury/article_6dcaac92-9ac6-11e4-96d5-7728cc4ce248.html

DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

EDINBURG — Isaiah Canaan’s ankle has the second-year guard back in the NBA D-League.

Still not fully recovered from a sprained left ankle suffered Nov. 28 against the Los Angeles Clippers, Canaan was reassigned to the Vipers by the Houston Rockets on Sunday.

Prior to the injury, the 6-foot, 188-pound guard had been playing well as the Rockets’ backup point guard. But since then, he has played spotty minutes, mostly in garbage time of blowouts, and Houston sent him to the Valley to get more time on the court.

“The ankle’s good,” Canaan said after Monday morning’s practice. “It’s still coming along and it’s day-to-day. The more I play on it, the better it will be. The more confidence I’ll have.”

Canaan — averaging 6.7 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 15.6 minutes in 23 games with the Rockets this season — returned to the court 19 days after the setback. But he has played just nine games since then, no more than 12 minutes in a contest, and never re-established himself in the rotation.

“Maybe,” Canaan said on if he returned from the injury too soon. “I was doing two-a-days to get back, and I forgot, mentally, it takes a little while for ankles to come back. Me coming back, I thought I’d be able to get back where I was at, but it’s a slow process. It’s a lot better now.”

This is Canaan’s first stint with the Vipers this season. He played 18 games with the team last season, averaging 21.8 points, 8.2 assists and 4 rebounds. He has been competing for the Rockets’ backup point guard spot since the season started and had finally made some headway before the injury. He scored 24 points against Sacramento the night before and then had 13 against the Clippers.

“It’s part of the game, but it was tough,” Canaan said. “I was playing so well and everything was going my way. Then I had that happen, but it’s part of life. You have to fight through and get back to where you were before.”

The Rockets are deep at point guard. Patrick Beverley is immersed as the starter, and veteran Jason Terry has seen a lot of minutes as his backup.
Houston acquired Alexey Shved, a bigger playmaker, last month. Canaan was sent down in time for the annual D-League Showcase this week, when D-League teams gather at one site, this year in Santa Cruz, to play in front of representatives from all 30 NBA teams.

Beverley, Terry and Shved are not eligible to be assigned to the D-League without their consent.

ESPN reported last month that Canaan was one of five players made available via trade as the Rockets looked to clear a spot to make room for the acquisition of Josh Smith.

“I’m just going out there, playing the way I need to play,” Canaan said. “It ain’t about what I’ve got to show or what I need to prove. I’m just playing and trying to win games.”

Vipers coach Nevada Smith said the goal is getting Canaan right physically.
“Making sure the ankle is 100 percent is the biggest key,” Smith said. “It’s about getting him some game minutes, doing what he’s supposed to do — making plays for other guys, make shots when he’s open and really guard.”