Each week, Pelican Debrief veteran Charles LaRocca (@CLaRoccaJr) will choose one player to highlight as New Orleans Pelicans Player of the Week. We’d love to hear your feedback, in the comments or on his Twitter timeline.
This week, we focus on the team’s Robin, who has played through puzzling inconsistency all year long: Jrue Holiday.
The New Orleans Pelicans today find themselves in a chase for the final playoff spot in the Western Confrence, despite only having a 16-25 record. A whopping 14 of those wins have occurred with point guard Jrue Holiday in the lineup. New Orleans is 14-11 when Holiday plays this season.
For those who did the math, that means the Pelicans are a porous 2-13 without him. Obviously, that in itself indicates the impact that Holiday has on the team; they are undeniably better with him in the lineup. But how good has he really been?
Coming into this year, the majority of Pelicans fans were clamoring for a Holiday extension. As the season has worn on, there has a been a debate brewing within Pelicans Twitter on whether that is the best long-term option.
Inconsistent versatility on offense
On the surface, Holiday has been right in line with his career statistical averages. His 14.5 points and 7.0 assists per game are solid numbers, but he has not taken the leap offensively that fans were hoping he would after last season.
His shooting numbers are simply average across the board. A pedestrian 48 eFG% is right on line with his career average. The biggest issue with Jrue Holiday’s offense, and what’s causing this uninspiring performance, is that he does not have a consistent “go-to” move. At 26 years of age, it’s also hard to imagine Holiday ever becoming an elite shooter, and that’s something that the Pelicans need to take into consideration.
That’s not to say that Holiday is a bad shooter, but he’s very streaky. Holiday lacks elite athleticism and quickness, so at times it’s hard for him to get all the way to the basket on drives. His on-and-off jumper makes it difficult for him to be effective if a defender goes under his screen. This all places a limit on his offensive ability.
To make matters worse, Holiday is shooting only 30 percent on mid-range jump shots this season. That’s really bad considering that he is not a great 3-point shooter. His poor shooting on mid-range jumpers allows the defense to clog the paint on pick-and-rolls; this has limited his effectiveness.
Often you will see the opposing defender go under a Jrue Holiday screen. Even when he’s behind the arc, opposing defenses are willing to live with him shooting:
Teams are always going to be more concerned with an Anthony Davis roll, but Holiday does not possess the shooting consistency to make teams pay for going under on him. This lack of consistent shooting has limited his effectiveness out of the pick-and-roll, regardless of his partner.
Jrue ranks in the 37th percentile when it comes to being a pick-and-roll ball handler (per NBA.com, minimum 20 possessions). As the point guard for a team featuring a dominant pick-and-roll finisher like Anthony Davis, that’s a concering problem. Davis leads the NBA as a scorer rolling to the hoop, ahead of big names like Blake Griffin, Karl-Anthony Towns, and DeMarcus Cousins.
As for Jrue Holiday, he’s the only player that averages at least seven pick-and-roll possessions per game as the primary ball handler to be below the 40th percentile. Holiday is shooting a woeful 39 percent in those situations, netting the Pelicans only 0.73 points per pick-and-roll possession. This season, Holiday has simply used volume to create points out of the pick-and-roll.
In the above clips, you get a sense of what Holiday likes to do out of the pick-and-roll. Scoring-wise, he tends to rely on an in-between game. The issue is that he has not been making that type of shot at an efficient rate. On top of that, these close-range pull-ups typically do not draw fouls.
He’s not getting to the rim, and he’s missing pull-ups; that’s a perfect recipe for inefficient offense.
Not to say that these are necessarily bad shots, but it’s a make-or-miss league, and until Holiday finds a consist method of scoring, he won’t be a reliable second option. That’s not a knock on Holiday; he’s an outstanding all-around player, and should fit on any team, due to his versatility. He is a good player offensively, both on and off the ball. New Orleans just does not have the pieces to use him in his most effective role, which brings us to an important point: The New Orleans Pelicans are devoid of offensive talent.
As it currently stands, Holiday and Davis are the only Pelicans that defenses have to gameplan for with Tyreke Evans still working his way back to peak form. What this means is that each game, Holiday is being guarded by the opposing team’s best perimeter defender. New Orleans does not have any other perimeter players to ease the pressure on Holiday, which may be a reason for his mediocre offensive output.
If Tyreke Evans begins to play more, we may see Holiday’s efficiency increase. Evans can spell him as a ball-handler, allowing Holiday to spot up or attack defenses off of the catch. New Orleans may not have the ideal pieces to compliment him right now, but the bottom line is that a player as versatile as Holiday is always useful, and can be hard to replace.
Switchable on defense
Defensively, Jrue does a ton for the team due to his ability to switch onto bigger players:
In this clip Jrue is switched onto Kristaps Porzingis, and despite clearly being mismatched, he is able to prevent Porzingis from getting to his spot. Jrue uses great lower body strength to prevent bigger players from overpowering him in the post:
Here’s another example of Holiday guarding wing players. His ability to switch onto positions 1-3 is a major component in the team’s defensive success.
Jrue Holiday is not a perfect player. He has many flaws, but his ability to do a variety of important things well make him a very well-rounded player, capable of making many teams better.
Next: After Korver and Rose situations, are the Pelicans cursed?
Whether the Pelicans should be the team to pay Holiday is debatable, but what is not up for debate is his impact on the team. New Orleans is 14-11 with Holiday in the lineup, and a team competing for the playoffs. Without him, they are competing for the top pick in the draft. The real focus for New Orleans is figuring out which of those options is most valuable long-term.