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Bulls have the right idea with using Isaiah Canaan to guard Isaiah Thomas

By Michael RENE KANOY

Apr 23, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) dribbles the ball as Chicago Bulls guard Isaiah Canaan (0) defends during the first half in game four of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 23, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) dribbles the ball as Chicago Bulls guard Isaiah Canaan (0) defends during the first half in game four of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports /
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Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg has the right idea defending Isaiah Thomas. If Thomas is allowed to roam around and shoot 3-pointers, the Bulls lose. When Isaiah Canaan sticks in his face, all the Bulls need to do is make him give up the ball by blitzing him or swarming him at half-court.

Isaiah Canaan did an impressive job (for a guy who hardly plays) containing Boston Celtics star Isaiah Thomas by limiting his 3-point shooting to 1-of-9 in Game 4 of the playoffs.

Thomas shot just 10-of-21 for the entire game and those points in the paint could be prevented by assigning better pick-and-roll defenders on Thomas like Bobby Portis or even Paul Zipser who could swarm Thomas before he gets rolling off his dribble-drive game.

Every time Canaan slowed down Thomas’ dribble, the Celtics point guard visibly got put off rhythm and could not get a good release not pass to a teammate properly. This is key to the Bulls making the adjustments without a healthy Rajon Rondo.

The only thing that sets Fred Hoiberg back is his laid-back approach on team defense. In the playoffs, games are lost by those two or three plays when you don’t get a stop that gets the other team going on offense. Knowing you allow them to play without adjusting to their tactics and literally steal points for free hurts.

If the Celtics don’t shoot the 3-point ball well, the Bulls are half-way there.

Boston went on a 10-0 run after the Bulls had evened the score by just running the same Thomas drive to the hoop and Hoiberg still didn’t call a timeout to adjust the help defense nor to stop the momentum. This allowed Thomas to outhustle the Bulls’ bigs to the rim.

Bulls assistant coach Jim Boylen has a San Antonio Spurs-like philosophy on defense of having the offense beat them in one-on-one coverage and seldom encourages blitzing because it opens up a free shooter if the playmaker can pass off.

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    • But, we’ve seen it work to an extent in Game 4. Canaan and Portis in the fourth making stops on Thomas by swarming him and making him give up the ball. This is the key to stopping Thomas in this series. The eye test proves it because Thomas can’t pass off decently with a man in his face and dribble.

    If a big guy blitzes him, he won’t have court vision to find teammates as an outlet. Thomas had five turnovers in Game 4, but this does not list bad shot attempts when he is off-rhythm from the perimeter. Boston as a team had 13 turnovers overall.

    Stay in his face and make him give up the ball under duress. Not allowing him to pass off easily, which allows the Celtics to swing the ball around for their open 3-point shooter. We’ve already seen Michael Carter-Williams have difficulty all season long guarding smaller and quicker point guards who attack the rim and still Hoiberg assigns him to defend Thomas.

    Hoiberg can play better bigs against the pick-and-roll without pulling out Robin Lopez. Not having Lopez inside makes it easier for Brad Stevens to trick the Bulls into playing a small-ball game shootout with them. Without Rondo and with Jimmy Butler playing heavy ISO, the small-ball game is suicide for the Bulls, who actually have better big guys matched against the Celtics attacking the rim.

    Having Portis swarm and blitz Thomas from the blind side just like the Celtics do when Butler stops his dribble and forces him to make wayward passes.  We’ve seen glimpses of that with Canaan sticking to Thomas’ face. Portis can also run the break off a turnover and play some point forward, which makes it extremely favorable to play him as the blitz guy while Butler and Dwyane Wade play the passing lanes.

    All Hoiberg and his staff need to do now is prime the Bulls for the full-court press on Thomas in Game 5 while getting an able body on Gerald Green to avoid getting outhustled by Brad Stevens’ small-ball lineups. This also means getting ready for a point-center offense adjustment by Stevens if he gets a big to hold the ball at the top and pass it back to Thomas.

    Next: Bulls need more Robin Lopez to stay in this series

    Isaiah Canaan and Bobby Portis are up for the games of their lives in Game 5.

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