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Zach Lowe's Most intriguing players this season: Jrue Holiday
Posted on 9/22/17 at 9:05 am
Posted on 9/22/17 at 9:05 am
quote:
JRUE HOLIDAY, NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
So, umm, did the Pelicans -- with DeMarcus Cousins' free agency looming and limited paths to upgrade if he leaves -- just give Jrue Holiday $26 million per year to be an average spot-up shooter next to Rajon Rondo and two All-Star bigs?
They concluded Holiday just works better as a secondary ball handler, a role he has played next to Tyreke Evans, Tim Frazier, and others over four strange years in New Orleans. "I honestly don't think it changes much for me," Holiday told ESPN.com. "Rondo makes scoring so much easier."
The team worried about Holiday's court vision and shot selection as the undisputed floor general. "The fit with Rondo is going to be much, much better for him," Alvin Gentry, the Pelicans' head coach, told ESPN.com. "Anyone who doubts the value of Rondo just has to look at the playoffs last year. [The Bulls] dominated with him against Boston."
Holiday is a 36 percent career shooter from deep, and right around that number on the catch-and-shoot attempts he should get more of in his new role -- decent, but far below sharpshooter status. Nobody is afraid of Holiday letting fly.
At this salary, Holiday has to do more than stand and wait -- not easy alongside three dudes who need the ball. Gentry wants Cousins and Anthony Davis to push after rebounds, so that Holiday can run the wing, catch at full speed, and slice into a backpedaling defense.
Things will get dicier in the half court given the Pellies' shaky outside shooting. Cousins and Davis are skilled playmakers, and Cousins has reinvented himself as an above-average 3-point shooter. (The same reinvention has not happened for Davis.) But there is always a tradeoff having your behemoth banger chilling 30 feet from the hoop, and defenses don't hug up on Cousins out there.
The fifth starting spot at small forward is open, and Gentry might rotate players based on matchups, he said. The bet here is on Dante Cunningham, who shot 39 percent from deep last season -- an outlier mark that won't make opponents pay him any mind.
Gentry and his staff have to get creative. They hired Chris Finch away from Denver, and plan to mimic how the Nuggets ran their offense through Nikola Jokic. Cousins and Davis will handle the ball up high, while the other four players screen for one another. Gentry might even stick one of the bigs in the corner in Rick Adelman-style sets, and have Holiday screen for him there. "Deal with that," Gentry said.
Holiday will snare dribble handoffs at the elbows, and attack scrambled defenses when Rondo kicks him the ball after a pick-and-roll. He has spent this summer working on quick catch-and-drive attacks. "I am locked in on off-ball actions," Holiday said. He is in shape after his first summer of health and peace in years.
But he's undersized at the wing, and he's not a blow-by athlete anymore. He might find himself taking tough shots over bigger defenders.
He'll have to guard those same players at times. Gentry plans to use three-guard lineups featuring any of Rondo, Holiday, E'Twaun Moore, and Ian Clark, and he will ask Holiday to defend bigger wings. "The Paul Georges and Kevin Durants -- we're going to ask Jrue to guard those guys," Gentry said.
The Pelicans have the talent to make noise. Core Boogie-Davis lineups trended up on offense after a brutal start; the Pelicans ended up outscoring opponents by three points per 100 possessions with Cousins, Davis, and Holiday on the floor. The sheer amount of IQ and craft flowing from Cousins and Davis is overwhelming.
But these guys have a lot to figure out, fast, and the wing rotation is the bad kind of scary. They are going to need a monster year from Holiday.
Posted on 9/22/17 at 9:43 am to different arse
if holiday improves the consistency of his range, this team could be scary. as is, i think we have enough D to make up for the lack of shooters.
Posted on 9/22/17 at 9:48 am to Machine
quote:
"The Paul Georges and Kevin Durants -- we're going to ask Jrue to guard those guys," Gentry said.
I found this part cringeworthy
Posted on 9/22/17 at 9:50 am to Machine
quote:
They hired Chris Finch away from Denver, and plan to mimic how the Nuggets ran their offense through Nikola Jokic. Cousins and Davis will handle the ball up high, while the other four players screen for one another. Gentry might even stick one of the bigs in the corner in Rick Adelman-style sets, and have Holiday screen for him there. "Deal with that," Gentry said.
Kumar with some good stuff on twitter in response to this part of the article.
quote:
Kumar? @FearTheBrown 29 minutes ago
Cool segment from @ZachLowe_NBA about sticking a big in the corner and going from there. We saw Pels do this vs the Spurs last year.
In the first quarter, Pels scored 6/7 times when using this corner split action (thanks @JamelleMac for the terminology)
This is all of the corner split action from that first quarter. Was nearly unguardable for this stretch.
There's a video clip at the link for those of you wanting to see Gentry's "Deal With That" corner split package in action LINK
Posted on 9/22/17 at 10:14 am to TigerinATL
Yeah, saw that. Apparently Crewz wasn't impressed
Posted on 9/22/17 at 10:22 am to SCLSUMuddogs
I see his point, it didn't generate wide arse open shots, but the Spurs had the best defense in the league last year, just being able to get the ball to a cutter with a step on his man so he gets a layup is a win against a top defense.
Posted on 9/22/17 at 10:23 am to partywiththelombardi
quote:
I found this part cringeworthy
Same. If we just had Solomon Hill I'd feel much much better about our chances to make the playoffs this season.
Posted on 9/22/17 at 10:23 am to Hazelnut
quote:that's sad and (even more sadly) accurate
If we just had Solomon Hill I'd feel much much better about our chances to make the playoffs this season.
Posted on 9/22/17 at 10:58 am to Machine
quote:
that's sad and (even more sadly) accurate
Exactly
I hated Solo's contract like everyone but I always appreciated the fact that we at least had a somewhat respectable true SF there that could at least defend other wings. Now we don't even have that. It's killer
Posted on 9/22/17 at 12:39 pm to Hazelnut
Schwan and Crewz talk about the Solo injury in the BSS podcast from a few days ago (just a heads up in case people kind of forgot about the show in the dead season). Schwan was more worried about it than MM was, Both think there's a chance that Miller will work out OK, and both agreed that Allen will be a similar/slightly better defensive player relative to Solo.
I've been thinking that Jrue defending SF's with Rondo/Moore/Clark in the backcourt was probably going to be our best lineup, so it's nice to see Gentry bring it up. Sure, it sucks against the Durants/Lebrons, but they were already going to get theirs (though DC has defended Lebron well in the past).
I've been thinking that Jrue defending SF's with Rondo/Moore/Clark in the backcourt was probably going to be our best lineup, so it's nice to see Gentry bring it up. Sure, it sucks against the Durants/Lebrons, but they were already going to get theirs (though DC has defended Lebron well in the past).
Posted on 9/22/17 at 1:06 pm to THRILLHO
quote:
Sure, it sucks against the Durants/Lebrons
correct. I feel pretty good about Jrue covering pretty much ever SF in the league outside of Durant, Lebron and Kawhi. That's what Tony Allen and Dante are for.
The luxury of having Jrue is that he is capable of guarding most 6'7" guys playing SF. I watched Jrue switch to guys like Gasol and Porzingis and force them to settle for turn around jumpers from 6-8 feet. I'm confident with Jrue covering anyone, outside of the few unguardable guys in the league like Durant, Lebron, Kawhi, Westbrook.
Posted on 9/22/17 at 1:57 pm to TeddyPadillac
quote:
correct. I feel pretty good about Jrue covering pretty much ever SF in the league outside of Durant, Lebron and Kawhi. That's what Tony Allen and Dante are for.
I might add Gordon Hayward & PG13 to that short list but even then thats only 5. Allen and Cunningham can hold there own, especially if we improve defensively at other positions on the court.
For example, against GSW I'd assume Rondo is on Curry, Jrue on Klay, Tony Allen on Durant, AD on Iggy or Draymond, and Boogie on Zaza. At least defensively, that's not bad at all. We could do a lot worse. Offensively however.....
This post was edited on 9/22/17 at 1:58 pm
Posted on 9/22/17 at 4:07 pm to DeionDeion
I agree about George and Hayward, but he can guard those guys for a few minutes a game, and it wouldn't bother me.
Jrue being able to do this and guard bigger guards is how he can help justify his contract. He does that and puts in a consistent 18ppg, ups his open 3s, and he's close to worth it.
Jrue being able to do this and guard bigger guards is how he can help justify his contract. He does that and puts in a consistent 18ppg, ups his open 3s, and he's close to worth it.
Posted on 9/22/17 at 8:16 pm to TeddyPadillac
we already know what holiday is
he's not ever going to justify that contract but it is what it is
if we as fans expect 26MM on the court from him we are setting up to be disappointed
as long as he continues to be what he is we need to forget about what he makes because that's now a sunk cost. thinking he can guard wings with several inches and many pounds on him is fools gold. this team is going to have to give it up to slashing/shooting wings and defend elsewhere/outscore
he's not ever going to justify that contract but it is what it is
if we as fans expect 26MM on the court from him we are setting up to be disappointed
as long as he continues to be what he is we need to forget about what he makes because that's now a sunk cost. thinking he can guard wings with several inches and many pounds on him is fools gold. this team is going to have to give it up to slashing/shooting wings and defend elsewhere/outscore
Posted on 9/23/17 at 4:46 am to cgrand
quote:
as long as he continues to be what he is we need to forget about what he makes because that's now a sunk cost.
Holiday needs to become what he isn't. A higher IQ player who understands being a secondary/tertiary ball handler. His role will require a much broader understanding of his teammates and the game than being the primary did. I think he'll be fine though. I could envision his role being extremely similar to Klay's in GSW.
Posted on 9/23/17 at 8:29 am to ShamelessPel
quote:
could envision his role being extremely similar to Klay's in GSW.
that's the hope. but Holiday is a better creator and is used to pounding the ball to find his shot.
Klay can drop 60 with 90 seconds of touch time.
forget Holiday being like that. but just getting him to be a guy who doesn't pound as much may be a tougher transition than we might think
Posted on 9/24/17 at 10:49 am to ShamelessPel
quote:Jrue being solely a catch and shoot player?
I could envision his role being extremely similar to Klay's in GSW.
I don't see that in the least.
Posted on 9/24/17 at 12:52 pm to ShamelessPel
quote:
Holiday needs to become what he isn't. A higher IQ player who understands being a secondary/tertiary ball handler
holidays biggest weakness in my opinion is lack of foresight and aggression.
he can run, he just doesn't do it enough
he can drive, he just doesn't do it enough
he can draw fouls, he just doesn't do it enough
he can shoot 3s, he just doesn't do it enough
sooner or later, what you do on the court is what you are
I'll be shocked if we see some huge improvements
all I care about is that he stay healthy
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