Draft Countdown: Jrue Holiday

[Test of Wills]

I'd absolutely love this kid with a second pick.

Jrue Holiday
PG/SG (Rank: #20) | 6-3, 185 | Age: 18
UCLA (Freshman)

Positives:
•Executes offensively
•Pick N' roll play
•Ability to create own shot
•All-around defender/Gets in passing lanes/Versatile defender
•Excellent rebounder
•Ability to finish around basket
•Good work-ethic
•Terrific basketball IQ, solid passer

Negatives:
•A tweener
•3-PT range?
•Not particularly quick or explosive
•Poor FT shooter
•Needs to work on his shot

Topics of discussion:
- Candidate with maybe a second pick. Do we take him?
- Player comparison? E.g Alvin Williams, Rodney Stuckey
- What's his ceiling?
etc.

IMO, he's still very young. One of the younger players in the draft and has a lot of time to improve. Dagger, in a seperate thread made the Alvin Williams comparison that I agree with. He's a tough, hard-nosed combo guard that's very crafty inside the lane. He's a very good defender and uses his length and strength to his advantage. With a second pick this is the player that I hope BC nabs. He'll be a great fit off the bench and will bring some of the toughness BC is looking for.

[5DOM]

I haven't watched many UCLA games this season, but I am more interested in him than Terrence Williams.

[Live Free]

could be the steal of the draft, wasn't he in the top 10 at one point

[C_Money]

I saw him play twice and he looked like he barely belonged in the starting lineup. Maybe I wasn't watching closly enough.

[Undefeated]

Love this kid. Has more upside compare to T-Will in addition to having more offensive game and not that far away from T-Will being a top notch defender. His game rather seem to be more effective in the NBA than college ball…

[Test of Wills]

could be the steal of the draft, wasn't he in the top 10 at one point

Yes he was.

A matter a fact he was slated to go somewhere in the Top 10 and DeRozan was projected to be the 2nd pick in the draft at the beginning of the college year but that all changed.

I think after the workouts Holiday will be in the Top-15. That's just my IMO.

[boshjonesford]

Player comparison - Dalonte West

[Test of Wills]

I saw him play twice and he looked like he barely belonged in the starting lineup. Maybe I wasn't watching closly enough.

His game rather seem to be more effective in the NBA than college ball…

I agree. He has very good vision regardless and is a very unselfish player. He shows great patience on the pick and roll, and plays the game at a very nice pace that's suited in the NBA, usually letting things come to him within the flow of the offense.

[Gruel]

best case: Kirk Hinrich-like
worst case: Antoini Daniels-like

[Southward1]

Worst Case: Antonio Daniels (Who was actually a pretty good bench player)
Best Case: Chauncey Billups (Who had shooting issues at the start of his career and was a bit of a tweener too)

He would be great with the second pick and would solidify the pg position for the raps for years to come.

[ZeriousLy]

No way you will be able to get him with a second pick unless it's a lottery pick.

[Dr Positivity]

I think Holiday goes top 12 when it's all said and done.

[dagger]

I saw him play twice and he looked like he barely belonged in the starting lineup. Maybe I wasn't watching closly enough.

He was recruited as a point guard, but Darren Collison returned to UCLA so they moved Holiday to SG. Complicating matters, he had never played off the ball, and even when he initiated the offence, UCLA played a half court game that was unfamiliar to him. He is better suited to our hybrid full/half court game, and could be brought along as a combo guard, backing up Jose and playing a defensive SG, until he learns all aspects of both positions.

He's a gamble - not spectacularly athletic, but a smart kid with good guard skills and possibly the best defensive potential of any backcourt player in the draft.

He's also 18 right now, and would be the youngest player in the lottery. So he has time to both grow and improve. He's a higher risk, high upside player but like DeRozan, who is also very young, even if they never become Tier 1 offensive players, they have the size and athletic ability to be above average defenders with reasonable offence, hence my comparison for Holiday to Alvin Williams.

Holiday, like DeRozan, also seems to be a high character kid with good basketball IQ and off the court potential to appeal to a fan base.

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

I'm thinking he could go possibly as high as 10 to the Bucks. I agree with everyone saying that his stock will rise, and from all accounts, it has already begun to rise.

[tecumseh18]

Player comparison - Dalonte West

Delonte has been one of the most under-rated guys in the league. I don't know if he still is. But I'd love to have him or someone like him on the Raps.

[Basketball_Jones]

I like him and is a guy I think BC should be targeting if he manages to get another pick. Above all else, he's a terrific singer as well.

[Musashi]

I have been on the Holiday bandwagon for some time and do hope we manage to draft him...I wouldn't mind us grabbing him with the 9th pick, he is top 10 talent.

[ATLTimekeeper]

I like him, but I think he's in the same boat as Gerald Henderson. He'll be ok, give a full effort, make the right play, but at #9 I'd like to see more of an impact player. Either someone who's talent or leadership will help shape our team.

He's also really young, and I think you'd have to weigh the projected finished product with the amount of time needed to develop. Is it worth waiting a few years for someone that might turn out to be Kirk Hinrich?

[ZeriousLy]

I like him, but I think he's in the same boat as Gerald Henderson. He'll be ok, give a full effort, make the right play, but at #9 I'd like to see more of an impact player. Either someone who's talent or leadership will help shape our team.

He's also really young, and I think you'd have to weigh the projected finished product with the amount of time needed to develop. Is it worth waiting a few years for someone that might turn out to be Kirk Hinrich?

I was thinking more of a rich-man's Keyon Dooling.

[Dennis P]

May 8, 2009

Jrue Holiday didn’t stand out in any one area, but he’s similar to Tyreke Evans in how he needs to develop a jumper to complement his finishing ability.

Not super efficient overall (.86 PPP), Holiday has the lowest usage of any NCAA player on our list at 9.7 possessions per game. He played a small role on a very slow-paced team, which he’ll like to tell you all about if his recent interviews are any indication. He got about a third of those possessions as a finisher at the rim, where he posted a PPP of 1.2 that places him well above average. He scored 1.34 PPP in transition on limited touches in UCLA’s system, but showed that he can get to the rim and make plays in the open floor.

Unfortunately, the good news ends there for the most part. Holiday shot only 28% from the field on his catch and shoot jumpers, landing him second to last, and his .75 PPP on pull up jumpers leaves a lot to be desired as well. His inordinately large percentage of possessions coming from spot up shots (27.8%) indicates that he spent heavy minutes off the ball –usually when Darren Collison was on the floor. Couple that with his questionable jump shot and you have a clear-cut recipe for disaster, which is exactly how he’d likely describe his first (and likely last) season in the NCAA.

I do not like those numbers at ALL. Couple that with his ordinary athletics and you have the road way to disaster.

March 21, 2009
UCLA’s other backcourt starter, Jrue Holiday, was unable to build on the strong showing he had against VCU on Thursday, having a particularly awful second half. He finished the game 1/6 from the field and 1/3 from the line, with 6 assists and 4 turnovers. His shot-selection and decision making skills looked very questionable, as he forced the issue on a couple of bad 3-point attempts, and also committed some bone-headed turnovers. It’s pretty evident that Holiday isn’t quite as good right now as some people (ourselves included) had him pegged going into the season, as he’s not at anywhere near the level of other fab-freshmen we’ve become accustomed to over the past few seasons. Combine that with the fact that Holiday isn’t all that naturally gifted from a physical standpoint—being an average athlete by NBA standards—and it’s safe to say that he would be well served returning for another year of college basketball. Holiday’s point guard skills, perimeter shooting ability and decision making need a lot of polish, and since he won’t be deemed to have quite as much upside as other combo guards in this draft (such as Jeff Teague for example) he’s no lock to be drafted in the lottery, or maybe even the top 20? That’s not just a gut reaction based on one poor game today—he’s been very disappointing for the last six weeks now, as a few NBA people have pointed that out to us.