New Orleans Pelicans: Jrue Holiday’s Struggles Foreshadow The Future?
By Owen Sanborn
Last night was opening night for the 2014-15 NBA season and the Pelicans had the pleasure of partaking in the festivities alongside a zesty TNT doubleheader. Omer Asik and Anthony Davis created a virtual forcefield around the rim, combining for 14 blocks and 34 rebounds against the poor Orlando Magic.
Although this was great to see in action, it was an expected strength of New Orleans heading into the season.
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As dominant as the two behemoths in the paint were, I was struck by the poor play of point guard
Jrue Holiday. Sure, the stats weren’t all that great (eight points, four assists on 4-of-11 shooting), but even beyond the stats, Holiday looked out of sync within the offense. He didn’t appear to know his place.
This is surprising to me, given that Holiday was predestined to be the primary ball handler on a team with scorers and an unworldly pick and roll partner of Anthony Davis. Holiday should accumulate five or more assists per game based on pick and rolls with Davis alone and then mix in another three or so during transition.
Instead, most of the assisting went to fellow playmaker Tyreke Evans, who dished out six on the night and looked to be the team’s primary ball handler on most possessions. Time and time again he found himself in pick and roll situations with either Davis or Asik and would consistently hit them in stride for easy lay ups or free throw opportunities.
It is important that Monty Williams is able to strike a balance between his two playmakers and Eric Gordon in order to keep the chemistry flowing. Evans is a dynamite slasher and could be utilized as a cutter during off-ball situations. Relegating Holiday to an off-ball role after giving up two first round picks for him doesn’t really make much sense to me.
I know it is one measly game (that the Pelicans won too) and going against the young defensive force that is Elfrid Payton did not help matters, but the role of Holiday will be something to keep an eye on in the near future. The Pelicans will need him to be a integral part of their plans to contend for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Other Notes:
Ryan Anderson single handedly won the game at the end of the third quarter with three straight three pointers that lifted the lead for New Orleans from 69-64 to 78-64 in a remarkable 45.4 seconds. Prior to that borage, it looked like Orlando was going to have a significant shot at hanging close in the game despite the heroics of Davis and Asik.
Anderson proved his worth in a big way last night and showed why he can have a huge impact on this team going forward. A player with his shooting prowess has the ability to swing games in slim amount of time, making him a lethal weapon off the bench.
One last note: Anthony Davis is freaking ridiculous. Watching him makes one believe that evil (basketball) scientists went into a lab one day and combined the talents of Hakeem Olajuwon, Dirk Nowitzki (without the rainbow threes… yet) and spit out Davis.
His unmatched wingspan and touch inside the paint is going to cause nightmares for opposing teams all season and I cannot wait to watch every single minute of it.
Maybe the Pelicans PA announcers will adopt a chant that resembles the iconic “Go Spurs Go” one used in San Antonio. Imagine thousands of fans screaming “Go Brow Go” during a game and tell me that wouldn’t be at least mildly intimidating.
I guess for now, I can only dream.