By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Early in the second half of Game 5 of the EuroLeague playoffs between Olympiacos Piraeus and Fenerbahce, Isaiah Canaan and Marko Guduric had a heated verbal exchange on the floor.
Canaan had undertaken the task of guarding Guduric, Fener’s main damage dealer with a fiery first half of 14 points on four triples. From the get-go, he implemented some really active and physical defense on the Serbian guard.
After applying pressure and trying to steal the ball from Guduric near the middle of the court, it appeared that there was some contact on Guduric’s face. Some moments later, the two players bumped each other and began exchanging words in an intense manner, receiving a technical foul each.
“It’s all part of the game,” Guduric, who finished with 27 points on 8-12 threes, told Eurohoops after commending the American guard for his defensive commitment. “We shook hands after the game, acknowledged each other, and paid our respects to each other. I wish him the best as well.”
A few meters further in the mixed zone, a shades-wearing Canaan was being swarmed by reporters. Eurohoops informed him about Guduric’s compliments.
“We are both competitors,” Canaan said. “He’s a great competitor, a great guy with a lot of game that I respect. I want to play against the best, I want to match up against the best. And he’s one of the better guards in this league. I just want to go out there and fight and compete against him.
Guduric also mentioned how he talked to Canaan in Serbian, since it’s his native language. Canaan laughed, recalling their interaction. “Yeah, I told him to start speaking in English. I said, “You’re speaking in Serbian, then I know you’re not trying to get to me. If you speak in English, then I’ll listen. All these extra languages I don’t know it doesn’t bother me.”
This wasn’t the first time the two players faced each other since they had already met in EuroLeague and also clashed last season in Turkey when Canaan briefly joined Galatasaray. Fenerbahce’s archrival.
“He knows I got all the respect for him from the little time I played against him last season in Turkey and when I was with Kazan,” Canaan said. “He knows I have big respect for him. And he knows I’m gonna bring it in every game. I’m a fighter, a competitor and I’m not gonna back down from anybody.”
Canaan had shown great defensive eagerness throughout the season, before this match vs. Fener. An underrated defender whose performances are usually rated solely (and perhaps unfairly) by how many 3-pointers he makes, the veteran guard explained how he learned to adapt to a different role on Olympiacos.
“When I first got here I had to adjust,” Canaan said. “I came from a team where I was taking almost 12 shots per game. Now here it’s different. Maybe two shots in one game and eight shots in another game. It’s just a different kind of basketball.”
One of the games that Canaan took an increased amount of shots was Game 1 of the playoffs. He drained 6-7 threes to lift Olympiacos to a 1-0 start.
“This is a difference type of basketball. The coach [Giorgos Bartzokas] does a great job in sharing the minutes and explaining to us how to share the ball,” Canaan added. “He is all about team. And that was the biggest difference for me coming from a team where they needed me to score 15 to 20 points per game. Anything I can give to help us win. I was a big-time scorer and I’m big-time competitor. So that was my biggest adjustment for me. Adjusting to the system because that’s something I wasn’t used to.”