Jrue the Damaja

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Let’s talk about the Celtics’ other big acquisition this off-season, someone who they quite frankly lucked into and may be just as impactful.

One thing that strikes me about Holiday is that the ball never seems to get stuck when he’s in, it’s always moving around. Even when he makes a decision I don’t love (pull up, top of this highlight reel) there’s no hesitation.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2oExSthpz8


Also, I had no idea how good his post game was. He is very tough for smaller defenders to handle.
 

lovegtm

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Let’s talk about the Celtics’ other big acquisition this off-season, someone who they quite frankly lucked into and may be just as impactful.

One thing that strikes me about Holiday is that the ball never seems to get stuck when he’s in, it’s always moving around. Even when he makes a decision I don’t love (pull up, top of this highlight reel) there’s no hesitation.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2oExSthpz8


Also, I had no idea how good his post game was. He is very tough for smaller defenders to handle.
Yup, this is why people who follow the Bucks closely were so high on getting him, and why I'm so low on Milwaukee after they lost him.

He was a huge part of everything they did on both ends. He had some bad playoff shooting (miscast as a primary creator last year), but the defense is always amazing, and he almost beat a really good Celtics team, without Middleton, in 2022.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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Just wanted to say great thread title! And to say if the first few weeks are any indication, it feels like Jrue is going to settle in nicely to letting his career averages drop but be efficient as hell. Other than his BPG, with which he is trying to make up for the loss of RWIII all on his own.
 

heavyde050

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Just wanted to say great thread title! And to say if the first few weeks are any indication, it feels like Jrue is going to settle in nicely to letting his career averages drop but be efficient as hell. Other than his BPG, with which he is trying to make up for the loss of RWIII all on his own.
I just wanted to echo the outstanding thread title. Also, Jrue seems like he is going to be a great fit on this Boston team.
 

Ale Xander

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Let’s talk about the Celtics’ other big acquisition this off-season, someone who they quite frankly lucked into and may be just as impactful.

One thing that strikes me about Holiday is that the ball never seems to get stuck when he’s in, it’s always moving around. Even when he makes a decision I don’t love (pull up, top of this highlight reel) there’s no hesitation.
Well, his wife was a world-class soccer midfielder. Maybe that helps!
 

DourDoerr

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The Nets game - and these highlights - contain a few things struck me. JH passes really well with his left hand which is a huge advantages on opening up angles. That pass to Korent under the basket was amazingly direct and gave LK a huge advantage. He‘s also taking full advantage of Kornet’s ability to then keep the ball high (the anti-Perk) through his shot as he lands and then jumps up is a nice complement.

Also love the instance of his defensive run through as he hustles back on a break. He had little chance of stopping the fast break drive but had the presence of mind to just run across the path as a distraction. Didn’t reach out for the automatic and-1, but bothered enough to help create a miss. Impressive all around and a joy to watch. We got lucky.
 

Euclis20

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It's not a big surprise to see his points and assists down so far this year (12.4 and 5.1 respectively, after averaging 19.1/6.8 over the last 6 seasons), but it's interesting to see his rebounds up by so much. He was always a very solid rebounder for a point guard, but his previous career high was 5.1, and he's at 7.4 so far this year. Maybe it's a function of roaming more on defense (which can him closer to the basket) or maybe it's because he's not playing with a big that hoovers up rebounds like Giannis and AD, but it's been pretty great for Boston.
 

Eddie Jurak

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It's not a big surprise to see his points and assists down so far this year (12.4 and 5.1 respectively, after averaging 19.1/6.8 over the last 6 seasons), but it's interesting to see his rebounds up by so much. He was always a very solid rebounder for a point guard, but his previous career high was 5.1, and he's at 7.4 so far this year. Maybe it's a function of roaming more on defense (which can him closer to the basket) or maybe it's because he's not playing with a big that hoovers up rebounds like Giannis and AD, but it's been pretty great for Boston.
Well, rebounding is a team weakness and Jrue seems to be at a point in his career where he's less interested in acumulating stats and more interested in doing what the team needs, so... he's rebounding more. I don't think there's any mystery to it.
 

slamminsammya

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Well, rebounding is a team weakness and Jrue seems to be at a point in his career where he's less interested in acumulating stats and more interested in doing what the team needs, so... he's rebounding more. I don't think there's any mystery to it.
The Celtics are middle of the pack in offensive rebounding rate and 5th in defensive rebounding rate. this after being the best defensive rebounding team in the NBA last year.

in what world is rebounding a team weakness?
 

lovegtm

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The Celtics are middle of the pack in offensive rebounding rate and 5th in defensive rebounding rate. this after being the best defensive rebounding team in the NBA last year.

in what world is rebounding a team weakness?
The world in which it (admittedly) feels bad when your team doesn't secure the rebound.

Rebounding just has more randomness than we're comfortable with, particularly on layup and 3-point attempts.
 

slamminsammya

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The world in which it (admittedly) feels bad when your team doesn't secure the rebound.

Rebounding just has more randomness than we're comfortable with, particularly on layup and 3-point attempts.
I'll push back a little bit and say we tend to think of it as a distinct skill, which it is to some extent, but in the modern NBA where you have hardly any true scrums for rebounds a significant part of whether there's an offensive rebound or not is whether the offense managed to draw a help defender freeing up a guy to crash.

Looney is a big guy but I've always felt the warriors bigs owe a lot of their rebounding numbers to Steph leaving them unmarked as the shot goes up.
 

lovegtm

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I'll push back a little bit and say we tend to think of it as a distinct skill, which it is to some extent, but in the modern NBA where you have hardly any true scrums for rebounds a significant part of whether there's an offensive rebound or not is whether the offense managed to draw a help defender freeing up a guy to crash.

Looney is a big guy but I've always felt the warriors bigs owe a lot of their rebounding numbers to Steph leaving them unmarked as the shot goes up.
I agree with this; it's not random in the sense of "every rebound is up for grabs". I was just trying to answer the psychological question of "why does it feel like the Cs suck at rebounding even though they're actually good at it?"
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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I'll push back a little bit and say we tend to think of it as a distinct skill, which it is to some extent, but in the modern NBA where you have hardly any true scrums for rebounds a significant part of whether there's an offensive rebound or not is whether the offense managed to draw a help defender freeing up a guy to crash.

Looney is a big guy but I've always felt the warriors bigs owe a lot of their rebounding numbers to Steph leaving them unmarked as the shot goes up.
Hmm...

74618
 

chilidawg

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I agree with this; it's not random in the sense of "every rebound is up for grabs". I was just trying to answer the psychological question of "why does it feel like the Cs suck at rebounding even though they're actually good at it?"
Isn't that the nature of fandom? Read the game threads and you'd think the C's suck at everything, expend no effort, and their coach wouldn't graduate from Kindergarten.
 

lovegtm

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Isn't that the nature of fandom? Read the game threads and you'd think the C's suck at everything, expend no effort, and their coach wouldn't graduate from Kindergarten.
Yes, that is the nature of fandom. I'd hope we try for a slightly higher standard on the main board.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Just to get the competitive juices flowing on tonight’s 2022 Finals rematch, a quick round of Player A / Player B.

(per 36 minutes)

Player A (6’-4” starting combo guard)
12.8 pts on .547 true shooting
6.9 reb / 4.8 ast / 2.1 tov / 0.9 stl
+11.4 on-court / +6.0 net on-off

Player B (6’-4” starting combo guard)
14.1 pts on .548 true shooting
8.2 reb / 4.4 ast / 2.3 tov / 1.3 stl
+7.1 on-court / +10.5 net on-off

Player A is of course Jrue Holiday. Player B is one of the Warriors few bright spots this season, 20 y.o. Brandin Podziemski.
 

lovegtm

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Just to get the competitive juices flowing on tonight’s 2022 Finals rematch, a quick round of Player A / Player B.

(per 36 minutes)

Player A (6’-4” starting combo guard)
12.8 pts on .547 true shooting
6.9 reb / 4.8 ast / 2.1 tov / 0.9 stl
+11.4 on-court / +6.0 net on-off

Player B (6’-4” starting combo guard)
14.1 pts on .548 true shooting
8.2 reb / 4.4 ast / 2.3 tov / 1.3 stl
+7.1 on-court / +10.5 net on-off

Player A is of course Jrue Holiday. Player B is one of the Warriors few bright spots this season, 20 y.o. Brandin Podziemski.
I like Podz, but you know all the retorts to this post, so it's sort of a waste of time for me to post them.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Just to get the competitive juices flowing on tonight’s 2022 Finals rematch, a quick round of Player A / Player B.

(per 36 minutes)

Player A (6’-4” starting combo guard)
12.8 pts on .547 true shooting
6.9 reb / 4.8 ast / 2.1 tov / 0.9 stl
+11.4 on-court / +6.0 net on-off

Player B (6’-4” starting combo guard)
14.1 pts on .548 true shooting
8.2 reb / 4.4 ast / 2.3 tov / 1.3 stl
+7.1 on-court / +10.5 net on-off

Player A is of course Jrue Holiday. Player B is one of the Warriors few bright spots this season, 20 y.o. Brandin Podziemski.
Yes but would you swap them straight up? :cool:
 

benhogan

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Just to get the competitive juices flowing on tonight’s 2022 Finals rematch, a quick round of Player A / Player B.

(per 36 minutes)

Player A (6’-4” starting combo guard)
12.8 pts on .547 true shooting
6.9 reb / 4.8 ast / 2.1 tov / 0.9 stl
+11.4 on-court / +6.0 net on-off

Player B (6’-4” starting combo guard)
14.1 pts on .548 true shooting
8.2 reb / 4.4 ast / 2.3 tov / 1.3 stl
+7.1 on-court / +10.5 net on-off

Player A is of course Jrue Holiday. Player B is one of the Warriors few bright spots this season, 20 y.o. Brandin Podziemski.
The Warriors may need to staple BP & Kuminga to Wiggins to go get something to compete. Steph deserves it
 

Kliq

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Jrue successfully bodied LeBron yesterday (granted, with some good help defense by KP) so there is pretty much nothing he can't do on that end of the floor.
 

TripleOT

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And that’s arguably the Cs fourth or fifth best player.

I really like how Mazzulla is coaching Jrue. He’s the key to the defense, being able to defend true bigs lto the PGs. When he plays a free safety role when covering a lesser threat, he’s incredibly disruptive. He‘s g defending the pick and roll, able to slip past screens and stay close to his man, or cover switches, with equal aplomb.

Offensively, his role is to figure out what the team needs that game, and provide it. At least a couple of times a game I just shake my head at how good he is and how lucky we are that he is on the Celtics
 

Cornboy14

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Worries me a little Jrue hasn’t extended yet.

Hope he hated living in Philadelphia. I know they can afford a max, not sure who else.
 

lexrageorge

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Worries me a little Jrue hasn’t extended yet.

Hope he hated living in Philadelphia. I know they can afford a max, not sure who else.
I believe any extension may have to wait until 6 months after the trade, otherwise the extension will need to have limits on length and salary increases that Jrue may not want to agree to.
 

DavidTai

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Worries me a little Jrue hasn’t extended yet.

Hope he hated living in Philadelphia. I know they can afford a max, not sure who else.
That earlier linked article seems to indicate he's an LA boy, his primary residence is there, and doesn't say much else other than that he really enjoyed Milwaukee, is enjoying Boston right now.
 

bigq

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Half way through the season Holiday is shooting a career best .420 from three. He is getting a lot of open looks from beyond the arc and making opponents pay. He is also at a career low for turnovers per 36 and is currently matching his career high for blocks per 36. This Celtics team is a wagon and Jrue is an important cog.
 

lovegtm

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Half way through the season Holiday is shooting a career best .420 from three. He is getting a lot of open looks from beyond the arc and making opponents pay. He is also at a career low for turnovers per 36 and is currently matching his career high for blocks per 36. This Celtics team is a wagon and Jrue is an important cog.
Also, if he doesn't make First Team All-Defense, they should just cancel the award.
 

bigq

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Also, if he doesn't make First Team All-Defense, they should just cancel the award.
I don't know a lot about the rest of the field but it seems like a pretty good argument could be made that Holiday and White should be the First Team All-Defense back court.
 

benhogan

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Half way through the season Holiday is shooting a career best .420 from three. He is getting a lot of open looks from beyond the arc and making opponents pay. He is also at a career low for turnovers per 36 and is currently matching his career high for blocks per 36. This Celtics team is a wagon and Jrue is an important cog.
Jrue leads the NBA in Corner3% at 60.5% (not missing Grant one iota)

He is MORE than advertised. Found his way to impact winning even as an off-ball offensive cog.

CJM has also given Jrue the responsibility of quarterbacking the defense in zone OR having Jrue guard the opponents most dangerous 2-5 player.

Expecting a Jrue extension announced sometime in March.
 

the moops

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Also, if he doesn't make First Team All-Defense, they should just cancel the award.
I don't know. There are some very worthy candidates out there. Not position less, so there still are two guard slots. But Caruso, White, Suggs, Herb Jones, and probably a few others have as much of a claim as Jrue probably
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Jrue is shooting 10-13 from 3P land over his last two games. Seems pretty good.

As for extension, if it is announced in March it will be a steal because it will max out at 2 years. If they wait until the end of the season, Jrue can get a 4 year extension. https://www.forbes.com/sites/shaneyoung/2023/10/01/boston-celtics-acquire-jrue-holiday-from-portland-trail-blazers-to-complete-successful-offseason/?sh=41dcd47b6f78

I think if Jrue would agree to a 4/$120M (the same number as KP), the Cs would do that but a 2/whatever would be great I think.