Jrue Holiday: Trending Downward?
By Owen Sanborn
The trade of Nerlens Noel and a 2014 first-round pick (that eventually turned into Dario Saric for Phily) for Jrue Holiday has been much maligned over the past few years among Pelicans faithful.
Holiday was a 23-year-old coming off of an All Star season for the 76ers during 2012-13, but keep in mind that Derrick Rose was injured during that time frame.
Analysts were stunned that Philly would be willing to flip their young and ascending point guard for a couple of unknown commodities. New Orleans fans were initially excited with the idea of teaming Holiday with Anthony Davis and creating a dynamic duo for years to come.
Who cares if they won’t have their first-round pick in a loaded 2014 draft?
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So far, the jury is still out on who has exactly came out on top from that draft night trade in June 2013. Although Holiday has been somewhat underwhelming (which is not completely his fault) Noel and Dario Saric are remarkably unproven and it may stay that way for years to come.
During his last season in Philly, Holiday averaged 17.7 points and 8.0 assists per game and was quietly asserting himself as one of the better point guards in the NBA. His 6’4″, 205-pound frame made him a potential menace on the defensive end for opposing point guards.
Most would attribute to his stats being somewhat inflated during that All-Star season in Philly because he was the “go-to guy” that always had the ball in his hands.
He averaged exactly three more shot attempts per game than he does now in New Orleans (16.5 compared to 13.5) and does not have the ball in his hands as much as he once did because there are other mouths to feed named Tyreke Evans and Anthony Davis.
There are numerous instances where Holiday will be asked to bail the Pelicans out of a late in the shot clock situation by making a quick move off the dribble.
Usually these possessions end with a long two-point jump shot that rarely tickles the twine. Shots such as these hurt both Holiday’s rhythm within the offense and his field goal percentage.
The decrease in Holiday’s shot attempts has indeed lead to a small increase in his field goal percentage this season (43 percent up to 44 percent) but he is taking different shots than he did while he was in Philly. Twenty-four percent of his field goal attempts have come from beyond the arc this season a big increase from 19 percent during 2012-13.
That 5 percent increase has put a blemish on his three-point field goal percentage, where he is shooting a career-worst 34 percent.
Taking more threes was always going to be the case for Holiday while playing alongside Anthony Davis and the lane-slashing Tyreke Evans.
So, has Holiday taken strides forward as a player, or is he trending backward? The numbers say that he has taken steps back, but the eye test says otherwise. Sure, Holiday’s numbers are down, but that should be expected with Davis and Evans getting their own numbers.
There is only one basketball, not everyone can put up the numbers they want.
Holiday has ran the offense well (when the Pelicans actually elect to run an offense) and he is still capable of being a nuisance on the defensive end with his size and length. It’s not his fault that he isn’t asked to carry the load offensively on a nightly basis like he was in Philly.
Holiday has done everything that has been asked of him since he made his way to New Orleans and that should stand for something.
Some fans may think that the idea of Holiday being an All Star point guard was merely a mirage, but if you look closely, he is still the same player he was then. He just doesn’t have the same opportunity.