Jordin Canada entered training camp at CORE4 athletic complex in Dunwoody, Ga., the home of the Atlanta Dream’s practice facility, on the first day of training camp on a mission.
She’s a goal-oriented person, and after leading the Dream to the best record in the Eastern Conference and a first-round exit to the Indiana Fever, her list of goals were concise and to the point.
She wanted to get the Dream back in position to win a title, she wanted to stay healthy, and she wanted to lead the league in assist to turnover ratio.
“I said last year in my press conference after we lost to Indiana that we would be back, and I meant that,” point guard Jordin Canada told media member KK Hansbrough ahead of the WNBA Finals. “Obviously the job isn’t done yet, but I believed in this team. There’s a reason that the core group came back.”
What she’s referencing is the quote that she gave last year following the Game 3 loss against the Fever.
“Like coach said, ‘what is delayed is not denied.’ Atlanta will be back,” Canada told reporters. “I guarantee that.”
And, well, like a great wise man once said – that wasn’t a prediction, that was a spoiler, as the Dream are in the middle of a hotly-contested WNBA Finals.
If the series were to end right now, the likely WNBA Finals MVP would be Angel Reese, but if there was a playoff MVP for the Dream not named Reese, it would be Canada.
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See, there are goals, and then there are reaching the goals. To understand the high-level play of the Year 9 veteran, you have to first go back to not only the goals that Canada set, but who she set them with.
While Canada is the engine that runs the Dream, the engine that runs the engine, if you will, is assistant coach Camryn Brown.
If you’re a hoop head, you know Brown from her time playing at High Point University, where she averaged 17 points as a senior and was named the Big South Player of the Year in that same season.
She went on to join Karl Smesko’s coaching staff at Florida Gulf Coast University, and she joined his staff at the Dream when he made the leap last season.
From Day 1, she started building chemistry with Canada.
“We met early on when she came in for preseason workouts like pre-training camp last year, and I knew that I was going to be working with her in terms of working with the point guards and things of that nature. It just kind of grew daily by getting to know one another,” Brown told The IX Sports on the eve of Game 5 in Golden State. “And the first year we were here, JC (Canada) just went through a lot of things, and she was growing and learning a new system. And I think just trying to get to know her as a person to see, you know, what her personality was like, how she liked to communicate, how she liked to take in information, and just daily taking in those things and getting to know her as a person. Which, if you know her as a person, she’s pretty incredible. I would say like our relationship developed organically and it’s become really, really close.”
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Those things that Brown is alluding to goes beyond the system. It’s also the health aspect.
In her first two seasons with the Dream, Canada played in 48 of a possible 84 games due to numerous injuries. She told Brown she wanted to stay healthy this season.
She did just that, playing in 43 of the 44 regular season games for the Dream this year.
That’s two goals checked off of the list.
The other one was the assist to turnover ratio.
In June, Canada sat down with The IX Sports for a film breakdown from her time in Atlanta. As that started, she revealed that that was one of her goals for this season.
“That actually was one of my goals this year that we set to lead the league in assist-to-turnover ratio, and that’s just due to, you know, watching the film and seeing last year where I was forcing a lot of things that weren’t good passes or trying to creep in passes,” Canada said. “I think this year was the focus of just making the right play every single possession, and I mean it’s working out so far, so I just want to continue doing what I’ve been doing.”
Now, Canada didn’t lead the league, but she came damn close. Last year, in 28 games, she had a 2.5 assist to turnover ratio. This season, she was at 2.9 and trailed only Veronica Burton and Julie Allemand.
“As a point guard, JC’s goals were pretty universal, but it comes down to your decision making,” Brown said about their preseason discussion. “We were just looking at things that were going to help her make better decisions. Seeing where her space is, and only attacking space because as soon as you start attacking into people, that’s where turnovers start to creep up. We just looked at her turnovers and kind of saw where within our offensive system she was going to have the most space, making sure that the pace of our offense since, obviously, everyone knows one of her biggest strengths is her speed, and so making sure that she was controlling the tempo for our offense.”
That approach worked, too, as the Dream love to play fast and did just that this season. They ranked No. 5 in pace this year, but as Smesko told The IX Sports last year, pace can be a flawed metric as the real speed they like to play at is out of transition and in the fast break.
In fastbreak points, the Dream finished No. 2 in the league with 11.9 points per game, and they tied for first with the Minnesota Lynx with 18 points off turnovers per game in the regular season.
A lot of that is driven by the decision making of Canada as not only the engine of the team, but the one who is pushing the ball up court as quickly as possible.
“What is the value of her decision? Be making passes, making a decision to shoot, making a decision to to push the ball. All of those things just come down to her decision making,” Brown said.
In order to do that, Canada had to be open to receiving feedback.
“I’ve been talking with our assistant coach, Cam Brown, about just about making the game as simple as possible for myself, and just seeing the floor, making the simple pass, not trying to overdo it, and that’s pretty much what I’ve tried to do today, is just attacking the paint, knowing that I bring a lot of attention and passing out to my shooters, and then when I’m open, just shoot the ball,” Canada said after an early-season game in Dallas. “So just trying to make good decisions, but just watching a lot of film, honestly, in areas that I can grow in, but that is in one particular just making sure that I’m not overdoing it and I’m not trying to squeeze passes, but make the simple pass.”
This year, receiving the feedback was a no-brainer since the relationship has had time to develop. But even last year, as an eight-year veteran, it came down to having a back and forth with Brown, a first-time assistant in the WNBA.
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“I think that’s probably the reason that JC has had such an amazing season is because she wants feedback,” Brown said. “We got into workouts in the offseason, and she was the one asking, ‘what are the biggest changes that I need to make in order for us to have a successful season, both for individually the team?’ She wanted to make those adjustments. She wanted to know and watch the film on where she can be better.”
After going over those areas, Brown put together a plan with Canada in order to find little tweaks that they can make and look at the games with a wider lens in order to look at every scenario in the game that can happen.
“Throughout the course of this season, we’ve been hammering those day in and day out,” she said. “When you see us going over her film and pregame, we’re literally hitting home the same things that we’ve been talking about through the offseason, every game, throughout the regular season. It’s been the same keys for her to be successful. And any time that you know we needed to make adjustments, or maybe depending on who it was that we’re playing, we just fit that gameplan or for that specific team into those major concepts for her.
“And I think that’s one of the reasons that she’s had so much success this year is because she’s been open to feedback. She’s been locked in on her goals. She’s been locked in on the things that we set in stone in the off season, and she hasn’t wavered. And she’s been super open to feedback, to accountability, and has constantly wanted to just improve day in and day out.”
The part about adjusting the gameplan to the opponent is something that is a part of the Dream ethos overall.
They have their overall gameplan and scheme that they implement, but when you’re facing a team that likes to go five-wide on offense like the New York Liberty or a team that uses screening as its main way to get into its offensive actions like the Portland Fire, you have to tweak your thinking.
That’s what makes the coaching staff a united front, and we’re seeing it in the WNBA Finals.
“I think you know we’re working within how we want to play normally, and then we’re adjusting it to how Golden State wants to play,” Smesko said ahead of Game 4. “So there’s definitely a combination, and I think your best practices need to take the other team into account to try and limit what they’re best at.”
And limiting the other team is an area that Canada stands out in. She ended up making the All-WNBA second team for defense, and she was sandwiched between Rhyne Howard and Reese as the top three leaders in steals per game during the regular season, respectively.
“Obviously, that was a big key for us. We wanted her to kind of continue to do what she’s done all all of her career is on the defensive side, but figure out how we take that up a notch in terms of being able to cause more seals, just be a little bit more pesky on defense, and kind of mix some things up there,” Brown said. “But those are basically the biggest things.”
The defense has carried over to the playoffs, as has the facilitating, leading all players in the playoffs with 73 assists. Burton and Gabby Williams, of the Valkyries, are the closest to her with 38 each.
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But an area of her game that has grown in the playoffs is her ability to not only finish at the rim (66.7 percent on 26-of-39 shooting), but also her ability to knock down the open three-point shot.
For her career, Canada is a 26 percent three-point shooter, and this season with the Dream was her high-water mark for her stay in Atlanta, shooting 29.2 percent.
In the playoffs, though, she’s shooting 37.8 percent – ranking fourth among players in the playoffs with at least 30 three-point attempts.
Canada set a personal record in the series against the Liberty and the last game against the Mystics in Round 1 by making three or more threes in three consecutive games for the first time in her career.
So, what advice is Brown giving Canada on taking those shots when it comes to making the best decision when it comes to balancing Canada hitting them currently vs. being a 26 percent shooter for her career?
“It’s always a read and always just her trusting her instincts,” Brown explained. “The thing is, Jordin puts in the work to do to be able to do whatever it is that’s necessary at that time. So if that means she’s open and it’s time for her to take the shot, she takes the shot. If she’s not open for the shot and it’s time for her to attack the space and punish the defense by moving it to one of her open teammates, then that’s what she does. She’s been in this league for a long time for a reason. She knows how to make the right decisions, and I think this year she’s just going to continue to build on, you know, reading all those things within what we do.”
It helps, too, that Brown is a similar guard to Canada. Canada is known for using her speed and taking the right angles to get downhill to finish in traffic despite being a smaller player at 5-foot’6. Brown is 5-foot-5 and can relate to Canada in that way.
“I owe a lot to Cam. She’s my coach,” Canada told The IX Sports. “We talk a lot about getting downhill and making the right reads.”
She also knows how to get across Smesko’s system, which players have told The IX Sports is “the most complicated system I’ve ever played in.”
“Obviously, last year was her first year in Coach Smesko’s system, and she was kind of learning where we were going to build space and where we were going to look for certain things,” Brown said. “This year, she kind of had a familiarity with the system, with what we were looking for, and then now it’s just her using the skills that she has. And again, she’s been very persistent about just improving all aspects of her game. There was a time in the course of this season where she was really frustrated with her shot, and so we just started shooting after practice and after shootaround every day. Every day.”
And that’s a staple for all of the coaches when it comes to their players.
Last season, it was the work during practice that helped Naz Hillmon become a knockdown three-point shooter, but it was that extra work that she put in with assistant coach Chelsea Lyles to really hone in on that part of her game.
This year, Reese would end every practice throughout the season with a side session with Smesko and assistant coach Brandi Poole to work on improving her shooting mechanics, as well.
It’s the work that LaToya Sanders does with both Reese and Howard after practice to get them where they wanted to be.
It’s a desire to be great that has helped Canada approach a decade in the league. And it’s that same desire by the coaching staff that has the Dream in the WNBA Finals.
“It’s been a blessing. Every coach on our staff is incredibly talented, brings in a wealth of experience from different levels, different places, and from working with different people, so there’s so many different points of view, and the way we kind of break down the game,” Brown said. “Eventually, it kind of starts to look the same, because we’re teaching the same principles. We’re trying to get everyone aligned with Coach Smesko visions and principles, and all those things. But at the end of the day, how I see something might be a little bit different than the way LaToya sees something, or Brandi, or Lyles see something.
“But being able to collaborate and again work with incredible people, they’re all not only brilliant basketball minds, but they are incredible people. So being able to work with them, learn from them, and just constantly share and bounce ideas off of one another has been pretty incredible to see it all unfold the way it has. It’s been a huge blessing.”
Canada’s playing the best basketball of her life. And while she’ll soon be Te-Hina Paopao’s “Year-10 vet,” with a lot of basketball to play yet, you can’t help but wonder what is next for Canada after she hangs up her sneakers.
As the point guard, you’re in charge of so much that happens on the court. From relaying the play from the sideline, to positioning everyone, to making the right reads, and controlling the pace of play.
There’s a reason the point guard is known as the floor general, because they are basically a coach on the floor.
But with how she sees the game, could coaching be in her future?
“Yeah, absolutely,” Brown said when asked. “I think as a point guard specifically, that gives you an advantage just a little bit because you’re constantly having to make reads offensively, defensively. I mean, you’re the coach on the floor. That there’s a reason that position is called that, and I think that you know JC mentioned that in the offseason too. She’s like, ‘I want to watch film not only to improve on the floor, but so that she could have a better understanding of the game’ so that when it comes to whatever’s next when that time comes, that if she wants to coach, she can go into that. But I absolutely think that if she wants to be a coach, that is well within her reach.”
If that’s a goal of hers, she should write it down. Because if Canada has proven anything this year, it’s that when she sets a goal, she’s going to achieve it.
Even if it’s with the help from some of her friends.
