Jrue Holiday

draft talk is always fun and entertaining to bring up, even "early" in the season.  Team records are far from established there's no telling how high up in the draft the dubs MIGHT be up in the draft.  Especially when you consider the trade deadline is far away and none of us have a clue what the warriors' roster is gonna look like by the end of the season.  but i just want to put in a word for jrue holiday, my man.  I go to ucla, and i get to witness this guy first hand, the mans vision is incredible.  He did his thing during highschool establishing himself as one of the best in the game, but he hasn't been getting nearly enough recognition as to what he might bring to a team like golden state.

let's talk about the positives.

pros

-like i said before, vision.  i know he might not be leading in assists or anywhere near that, but just watch him play.  he recognizes who's got the hot hand, he'll stay calm around the perimeter for most of the shot clock threatening opponents to pressure him and pay most of their attention to him allowing his teammates to set up for the play they want to run. 

-this leads to my next point, getting the team involved.  This is what he does best,(unique for a player of his talent) he takes the pressure off his teammates, being a solid player who doesnt risk throwing up selfish shots, letting his boys run around the court with more than ample time to get in position for the play howland/ucla really wants to run.  If that options not open, he's more than ready to pull the crossover and put in a smooth bucket.  he's done this over and over again, shooting better than .500 from the field.

-which once again leads to my next point, the looks he gets are incredible.  He has a phenomenal first step, i dont wanna overhype this guy but he has the quickness and the confidence of anyone in the nba to this day, just as good as d rose.  he'll drive into you and pull away just as quick with his feet planted to knock in a smooth jumper. 

-his activity of defense is almost as impressive as the rest of his game.  With his speed, the one talent that above all can't be taught, he's ready to force the turnover and for a pg, he's blocking at least one shot almost every game. most importantly, he's not slacking on the d, something a lot of offensive minded players in the game tend to do, conserve their energy for the fast breaks and the offense.  He treats his defensive game with just as much emphasis and can hang with the toughest opponents.

cons

-he's most definitley not undersized for a pointguard, but comparing him to bd, he's the same height, but down 35 pounds.  He's not gonna be able to rough up other point guards in the game for the layup/dunk just cuz he lacks that strength.  That is huge advantage, and an undersized mostly young team like the warriors (assuming the warriors are still that team come draft time) needs a player that can do that.  badly.

-his 3 point shooting is far from stellar.  yeah, he can always work on it, and yes he'll probably improve it over the course of his freshman season, but that's the main asset the warriors have needed from their point guards.  Watson's consistency from long range has been brought up over and over.  If holiday was to end up on the warriors, wouldn't watson's "clutchness" and his triples outweight anything holiday has to offer? 

-i know this seems contradictory, because i brought up his ability to get his teammates involved under the "pros", but is he doing it well enough?  a pg needs to be able to find the man for a quick dish and flush, something jrue has NOT been doing nearly enough.  true, he lets his teammates be able to get into the places that they have been most comfortable at but he has to learn to be able to draw more pressure on him, especially by driving to the bucket and then kicking the ball out to his teammates for an open look.  So far its mostly been set up for the set up, and let the 2 or 3 guys i'm involving run their play.

Ok, thats it for me but this is my disclaimer, and i feel as tho its necessary.  The majority of peeople here on GSoM are experts on the game of basketball, and mad respect to all of you.  I almost feel like i'm disrespecting you by coming in here as a new user and telling you my personal opinions that probably don't count for much and arent nearly as well researched as many of statements as you guys have to make.  However, i genuinely feel like jrue has the skill set to be a major contributor to the warriors and i hope that if he does end up on the team, he'll take their game further than they have.