New Orleans Pelicans Pixels: Jrue Holiday is well prepared
By Rick Stone
New Orleans Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday is known for being prepared for any challenge, similar to Link from the Legend of Zelda.
It’s not all advanced stats and critiques of the front office here at Pelican Debrief. Nope. We can have fun, too. Pelicans Pixels is a series in which the writers at Pelican Debrief make a humorous comparison between a video character and a Pelicans players. Why did we do this? No particular reason; we’re just big kids at heart. We hope you enjoy reading Pelicans Pixels as much as we enjoyed writing the series.
New Orleans Pelicans’ Jrue Holiday seems to have an answer for everything in the NBA.
His career has taken quite an interesting turn since his trade from the Philadelphia 76ers. The biggest struggle has been his time lost due to injury, with at least 17 games missed each season. However, when he’s playing, he’s been strong. He’s the floor general next to Anthony Davis.
On offense, he has the ability to run the floor, pass the ball effectively, run the pick-and-roll and even keep everything flowing without the ball. On defense, he can shut down opponents with his stealing ability, use his strong footwork against quick driving guards and stay tough against a post up. He has the answer to every situation.
Jrue’s not a one-trick pony. Sure, he likes to lean towards his go-to moves on both ends, such as his pick-and-roll game with AD and his quick hands on defense. Though he does have the capability to best his opponents in a variety of ways. It’s this kind of adaptability and all-around balance that makes him such an exciting player on the floor.
In an odd way, due to Anthony Davis’ stardom, we almost forget about how great Jrue Holiday truly can be. All of these qualities give him an oddly similar character background to one of the greatest characters in video games that gets overlooked at times. Link from the Legend of Zelda.
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For how famous Link is to countless gamers, it’s fairly common for Link to get mistaken for Zelda. Zelda is the princess of the game. Link is the hero the player controls in the game. Like Jrue, Link does not speak a ton. In actuality, it’s rare to hear Link talk at all in the Legend of Zelda games. He becomes a silent, yet easy to like hero.
However, the lack of notoriety is not the key comparison for Jrue and Link. It’s the adaptability. Just like Holiday, Link is known for his array of weapons and abilities throughout the series. Though he is keyed in on mostly using his Master Sword to fight, he has been known to use a bow and arrow, bombs, shields, hammers and even musical instruments. Along with that is his skill in hand-to-hand combat and his super-human strength.
Link also has great intelligence in his stories. Throughout many dungeons, there are puzzles Link must solve, some with great difficulty. Link’s heroic prowess is still able to tackle each one with thoughtful and swift execution. It’s the same kind of skill Jrue Holiday uses to break down some of the best defenses in the league.
In all honesty, Link could be the greatest character in video game history. However, he’s fallen in the dust to one insanely popular characters on a level that can’t be touched: Mario. It stinks, mostly because of how well Link is portrayed in a video game series that has fantastic depth. Still, he can’t touch Mario, even if the expectations are set so high. It’s the same for Jrue.
When Holiday got on the New Orleans Pelicans, expectations were set extremely high. Probably too high for a youngster coming from a team he was not the main cog of. His talent level is very impressive, by far the second best player in New Orleans. However, he could never reach Anthony Davis level. And it’s not fair to expect him to. To put it simply, Link and Jrue have insanely high expectations.
Even with that truth, they do an unbelievable job at setting the bar high for themselves. Jrue became one of the scariest point guards on the defensive level when he was on the floor and made the Pelicans offense look smooth and fluid. Link is able to turn a quiet, young hero with odds stacked against him and conquer any task set in his way. They get the job done without needing the “greatest” role attached.
Next: New Orleans Pelicans Pixels: Dante Cunningham
Jrue Holiday and Link are always prepared. While hiccups can happen, their ability to assess the situation ahead of them and act appropriately does not get the credit it deserves. For Link and the Legend of Zelda series, time has not stopped it from continuing to be great. Let’s hope the same is a result for the long term future of the New Orleans Pelicans’ young point guard.