I wish I could chase you away so you could stop posting, but unfortunately you're not as sensitive as other people and can probably take a joke however bad it is. Oh well.
Agree that right now, Canaan is your secondary playmaker. I hope we can be patient with him, because he's got the tools.
He does definitely have the skill set to come off the bench for 15-25 and do something special with it. He has a nice J and is strong so he can probably finish through contact. I'm not so sure if he can get Dwight the ball when he needs it though. I'm not too sure on his vision. Nick Johnson may have better vision than Isaiah, and Nick is already a better defender. I don't think Nick will play with the Rockets immediately though even though I can see him making the jump by January. I'm comfortable with Canaan being able to replace Lin's production, but he's likely to make the same amount of mistakes as Lin did. I guess we just got to wait and see. A lot of uncertainty coming from the bench. Sucks brah
I don't think Canaan will make as many mistakes as Lin because he is a far superior shooter to Lin. This means the D has to come out on him or he'll jack it. With Lin, the D could sag down to the top of the circle/FT line area. As much improved as Lin was with his shooting he is still no match for Canaan in that department. Defenders will have to play up on Canaan or he'll go nuts just firing the 3. And when they play tight Canaan is in a much better position to blow by them than Lin was. Less dribbles, more effective dribbles. If we don't trade him...I think Canaan breaks out this season and becomes a primary rotation player for us...especially when we sit Harden.
Here's Canaan's SL highlights. You can see the handle. You can see the quick pull-ups and blow-bys. And you can see the catch-and-shoot.......er the grab-and-fire. His release is ultra-quick. Yes, this is SL. But remember, he was playing as the man there. Playing alongside Harden and Dwight, his open grab-and-fires will be much more relevant and then when the D runs at him, it'll be over as he blows to the rim. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OfY5uIdSfjY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> This dude is a highly skilled offensive basketball player.
That's why it pisses me off when posters prematurely say our bench is crap. You gotta account for organic growth and the development of players.
Here's some more from dleague for your viewing pleasure. Ridonkulous stuff here. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Dw-KQOXfSr4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Trevor Ariza Playoffs Edit 2014: http://youtu.be/VzEtSucg3wQ Ariza clearly can catch the ball from a triple threat position with a guy guarding him and make a move to the basket and score. He did it consistently in this video. In the role he plays as a third option he plays the catch and shoot role more on offense then get the ball and go one on one creative style. It doesn't mean he can't create at all. Another thing is when it comes to playing against better small forwards in the league especially in playoffs Ariza is a better guy at the position then Parsons who thought he was so much better than Batum but couldn't even hold him.
The problem with this is if I believe it then I do not believe there is an interest in upgrading the 1. And I believe there is. If I believed, as in b-e-l-i-e-v-e-d, in Canaan and/or TJo then I would be satisfied with starting the season as is. As it is I am convicted that one or two large or even LARGE deals must be made by February. (Just gimme D-West today, folks.)
You can't just count on "organic growth" until it actually happens. Sometimes young guys who were out of the rotation do become contributors in their 2nd season or third season or whatever but for other guys this just doesn't happen at all or at least not until later in their career and perhaps when they play for a different team. Jermaine Taylor didn't just "organically grow" into a contributing rotation player. Terrence Williams and Hasheem Thabeet didn't "organically grow" into rotation guys, either. The same can be said about a lot of 2nd/3rd year guys.
I think Canaan still needs time to learn to be a PG and not a SG. He is way too small to play SG and that is what he has always played as. He is among he most gifted scorers that came out of college but we need to see if he can translate his game to the NBA. Last year he wasn't showing he was stepping up his game but he played little minutes.
As long as there are people who will diss and hate on this WONDERFUL! thread I will keep it going all by myself!
Sure but organic growth does happen. Rockets have had numerous players that have ridden the pine then developed into quality players. Aaron Brooks, Kyle Lowry, Carl Landry, Chuck Hayes, and even Pat Beverly. If you're gonna give negative examples of players not developing you should give credit to the positives. Hence it is too early to be making blanket statements that our bench is crap, if by the trade deadline our bench play is weak i expect DM to bring some guys in but until that happens i'm giving the benefit of the doubt to our young guys developing.
Is there a way for us to transplant Lowry's grit and tenacity into Canaan? Otherwise, I'm not so optimistic
I'm really hoping to see some growth from Canaan. The team's shooting off the bench has potential to be lethal.
