5 Hot Questions: Houston Rockets Playoff Preview Edition #1
By Salman Ali
Mar 11, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard
Isaiah Canaan(0) dribbles the ball past Chicago Bulls guard
Kirk Hinrich(12) during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Bulls won 104-95. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
3.) With the success of Shved and Canaan, what does that say about our system and why did they not fit here?
Salman’s (@rednation_hoops):
Absolutely nothing.
Although I believe Canaan could have been a decent bench scorer for the Rockets, I don’t think he’s starting point guard material as some thought when he was in Houston. I do agree that Mchale was foolish to not give Canaan minutes off the bench, but after watching him play heavy minutes in Philadelphia, I realize he probably wasn’t much of a better player than Prigioni or Terry.
Both Shved and Canaan are beneficiaries of playing on a bad team – much like Michael Carter-Williams in Philadelphia. This may sound harsh, but I think their ceilings as NBA players are good backup point guards.
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Alykhan (@Rockets_Insider):
It has nothing to do with the Rockets offensive system.
In the case of Shved, the Coach McHale trusted Jason Terry as the second point-guard off the bench. Terry has played well despite the age-factor and has earned playing-time. There wasn’t enough minutes for Shved available. Also, Shved is a ball-dominant guard. Meaning the ball must be in his hands as the primary ball-handler and scorer. The Houston bench runs a free-flow offense that feeds off it’s defense. Terry was a better overall fit, and Shved struggled to make an impact on spot-up threes.
As for Canaan, he never received sufficient playing time to make a final conclusion. I was apart of the #FreeCanaan movement on Twitter. He’s a terrific offensive player and has potential to be a good pick-and-roll player and spot-up shooter. As a defender, the jury is still out on whether he can be trusted to defend opposing NBA point-guard in what has become an (athletic) guard driven league.
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