On the Beat: Canaan Uses Defense to Get Back in Mix

Isaiah Canaan gave the 76ers the exact lift they were looking for late in Saturday’s tense battle with the Golden State Warriors.  Brett Brown brought the spunky, hard-nosed, sharp-shooting combo guard off the bench with under seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and he made his presence felt amidst a 20-5 Sixers surge that ultimately tied the game. Perhaps no development during that run inspired more hope than the four-point play Canaan delivered with 38.6 seconds to go.  His three-point field goal from the corner and subsequent free throw – which resulted from a Steph Curry foul – sliced the Sixers’ deficit to two points, 105-103. The moment was one of those that gave you permission to believe good fortune was on the Sixers’ side. Saturday’s ending has been well-documented, but the last-second defeat didn’t diminish Canaan’s performance, at least in the eyes of his head coach. As much as Brown welcomed the clutch offensive contribution, he seemed to be just as satisfied with defensive impact that Canaan had down the stretch.  Canaan came up with two steals in the last two minutes.  His career-high tying fourth and final swipe sparked Ish Smith’s transition dunk that evened the tilt at 105-105.”What he does to unlock the whole thing and exploit that sort of strength of shooting is he’s been guarding,” Brown said of Canaan on Monday, following the club’s workout at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.   “There’s a physical base, like a [Toronto guard Kyle] Lowry body, a physical base, where he’s just strong, and he can get into people, and war through screens.  At the other end, he can shoot.  So we keep talking about two-way players.  I think his defense is a thing lately that’s improved and allowed him to stay on the court.”In the month of January, playing time was a tenuous commodity for Canaan, a Murray State product.  He averaged 19.1 minutes per game, after logging 25.3 minutes per contest in November, and 27.1 minutes per outing in December.  Canaan was also designated as a “Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision” on January 10th versus the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Recently, he’s been dealing with wrist pain. Now in his third year, Canaan understands “the NBA is a long season.””Part of being a professional is you’ve just got to stay ready,” he said.  “The games change, injuries may happen, Coach may have a gut feel about this rotation or that player at the time, so you can’t really get caught up too much into the rotation.  Of course you want to be out there, but at the same time, my job is to be ready when my name is called.”He was on Saturday, and has been in general the previous two weeks.    Canaan’s efforts against Golden State was the latest example  His 18 points was the highest total he’s manufactured since a 22-point road showing at the Phoenix Suns the day after Christmas.  Since being held out of the Cavaliers game on January 10th, Canaan has delivered his most consistent shooting spurt to date.  Over his last eight appearances, he’s converted 47.3 percent of his field goal attempts, while hitting an even 50.0 percent of his three-point tries (17-34 3fg).  “I just try to read the game, read the defenses,” explained Canaan, obtained by the Sixers in a deal with the Houston Rockets at last February’s trade deadline.  “If they’re off of me, then I rise up and shoot it, and then if they’re on me  I try to draw a foul and get to the rim, or just trying to make a play for somebody else.”During this current eight-game stretch, Canaan has posted a 94.9 defensive rating as well, a figure that ranks second only to the 91.8 defensive rating T.J. McConnell has generated in this same period of time. “I just wanted to impact the game even if my offense isn’t going, so that’s just an area I know I can be good in, with my size and my strength,” said Canaan, who’s listed at 6’0″ tall, 200 pounds.  “Just wanted a personal challenge for myself to be better on that end of the floor, so I am impacting the game even if my shot may not be falling, I’m not having a good offensive game, so I can just leave my impact on the game on the other end.”Lately, the side of the court – offense or defense – hasn’t mattered.  Canaan’s proven valuable. “I center sort of my universe with our guys right now is you want to just play defense in this city.  We’ll figure out ways to score later,” Brown said.  “I think it’s starting to kick in.  I feel he’s really bought in, and embraced it, and it’s just sort of day-to-day stuff that’s let him improve.”