Jrue Holiday: Season in Review

[jonathanlambert33]

But Jrue soon adapted to the team and became exactly what optimistic fans had envisioned for the budding 23 year old point guard. His assists per game spiked, his turnovers went down, and he began to find his role within the Pelicans squad; that role varied by night. In some games, it was the role of Jrue the defender, and in others it was Jrue the facilitator. Sometimes he just chose to take over, as he did in the game versus Portland (video below). And though I will complain about Jrues hesitance to attack in certain situations later in this article, he has a very good feel of when to find others and when to take it himself.

Weaknesses
Patience
It feels strange to say this, but I believe Jrue Holiday is TOO patient running the pick and roll. There is a possibility that Jrue is being asked to run too much offense and that he is being less aggressive by necessity, but there are many times where I think Jrue misses an opening in the defense and pulls the ball back out. I wouldnt consider this a weakness if I didnt think Jrue was capable of getting to the rim more, and therein lies the problem: I think he can do more.

Turning the Corner
Jrue struggles to beat hedges from mobile bigs and his inability to penetrate sometimes results in a stagnant possession. Opponents concentrated on taking away Anthony Daviss rolls to the rim this season, and the lack of shooters on the weak side of the floor basically prevented the Pelicans from making them pay for cheating on the roll. Opponents could take away ADs roll and Jrues penetration simultaneously without much concern for the consequences.

Turnovers
Jrue has never been a player who took great care of the ball and this season was no different. Though he is not reckless, Jrue is prone to leaving his feet when passing and also losing the ball while dribbling. According to 82games.com, Jrue had 57 bad passes, 42 ball-handling turnovers, and 6 offensive fouls. His 2.17 assist/turnover ratio is slightly below average for a point guard and may validate the notion that he is being asked to do too much on offense. Anthony Daviss progression as a primary offensive threat moving forward may alleviate some of the concern and an increase in ADs usage may have a positive effect on Jrues turnover rate.

Struggles Versus Elite Defenders
This video is hardly a representative sample of Jrues season, but it highlights one of his main issues: he struggles to get into the offense versus elite defenders. Patrick Beverley of the Houston Rockets hounded him (see above) for the entire game and Jrue also struggled versus Eric Bledsoe of the Phoenix Suns. Aggressive, athletic guards can give him trouble sometimes, and thats one of the reasons I do not want him to be a dominant ball-handler in the Pelicans offense.

Finishing at the Rim
Despite his athleticism and size, Jrue has never been a great finisher at the rim, and actually posted a very poor conversion rate at the basket this season. He highly prefers driving and finishing with his left hand, where he is probably close to an average finisher at the rim. However, his finishing at the rim with his right hand leaves much to be desired. His struggles to create a high level of separation from defenders undoubtedly factor into his finishing woes.

 

Strengths
Unselfishness
There was some question before the season as to how the players in the Pelican guard trio would react to having a smaller piece of the pie. That issue was immediately put to rest with Jrue, who displayed no hesitance to share the ball with any and every teammate. His defensive effort had no correlation with how many shots he was getting or how often the ball was in his hands. Jrue was someone the Pelicans could count on to make the right plays for his teammates.

Defense
As Kyle mentioned earlier, Jrues defense was his hallmark skill as a 76er, and his defensive abilities were on full display this season. Jrues length, athleticism, and IQ on defense were a welcome change after 2012-13′s Greivis Vasquez treated seemingly every NBA point guard to a 25 point dinner. Jrue is not quite the Im going to hound you end to end all game type like Avery Bradley or Patrick Beverley, but he pressures at the point of attack, bothers passing lanes, fights around screens, and has an acute awareness of defensive responsibilities. I will wager that he sometimes helps too far off of shooters, but I am not sure whether it is a function of Monty Williamss scheme or a lapse of judgment. Either way, the occasional defensive gamble is a small price to pay for what is typically excellent defense.

Jrue is also capable of switching onto bigger assignments due to his strength and savvy, which is something I could see helping tremendously once the Pelicans start playing in the playoffs. If Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday are the backcourt of the future, you can virtually switch everything without much consequence.

Spot Up Shooting
Its hard to foster a reputation as a knockdown spot up threat when your team heavily relies on your ability as a playmaker, and Jrues position as a primary ball-handler helped hide one of Jrues greatest skills: spot-up shooting. Although Jrue still hasnt been able to showcase this skill to the level that I would like him to, there were undoubtedly glimpses of what is an excellent spot up game. Jrue can flat-out shoot.

Pull Up Jumper
The midrange jumper is typically an inefficient shot, but Jrue consistently drilled his midrange looks, knocking down 44.4% of his shots in the area. I dont have a problem with Jrue taking this shot, because Jrue does an excellent job taking his jumper in rhythm, often using a step back to create separation from his defender. It is a smooth motion and he is almost always completely balanced.. there is nothing rushed about it. I believe that theres a huge difference between forcing a cool contested fadeaway J from midrange and taking space a defender shouldnt give you and rising up for a relatively uncontested jumper. Jrues is the latter and I am fine with it, so long as he is at least looking to penetrate first.

Rebounding
Jrues total rebounding rate of 7.2% surpassed the 2012-13 positional averages for both shooting guards (6.4%) and point guards (5.2%). **Note: HoopData is the only place I know to get this information and they shut down at the beginning of last season** The Pelicans guards assume a good bit of rebounding duty and his career high could be influenced by a different role, but nevertheless, his rebounding was unequivocally a positive on a Pelicans team that struggled to deny opponents second-chance opportunities.

Passing
Though Jrue is not be the ball-controlling point guard that Monty may want him to be, he is unmistakably a good passer and one who has a good feel for the abilities of his teammates. Again, it took him some time to get accustomed to a new system and new players, but you could see signs of emerging rapport with teammates before a stress fracture ended his season. His passes are crisp and he finds shooters in rhythm, particularly Ryan Anderson. He is also capable of dumping off to bigs on drives if a shot-blocker leaves his man open to contest Jrue.

Ability to Make an Impact without Scoring
Anthony Davis is often referred to as a unique superstar because he is able to make an impact on the game without scoring a point. Jrue is similar, though clearly to a much lesser extent. Jrues versatility allows him to make an impact as a scorer, facilitator, rebounder, or defender. Very few NBA players are immune to poor scoring nights, and it is of paramount importance to be able to make an impact elsewhere. Jrue can.

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