Jrue is the key
Jrue Holiday’s blend of versatility and physicality makes the Bucks the team to beat in the East.
This player summary is a public post, and the capstone to our deep dive in Jrue Holiday’s game. If you want to go deeper, consider becoming a subscriber, and following along with us as we take a look at Jrue’s games against the Jazz, Cavs and Magic. And THANK YOU to everybody who has helped support this newsletter in its first few weeks of existence.
Jrue Holiday has been in the league longer than you think. Now in his 12th year, he’s been to the playoffs four times, advancing to the second round twice. But this is his first season on a contender.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton soak up the offensive possessions. Can Jrue thrive off the ball? And when he does run the show, will he be productive enough to warrant taking the ball out of the hands of his All-Star teammates?
Jrue is celebrated for his perimeter defense. But he’s only 6'3". What kind of improvement can he make on the team’s defensive cohesion? Can he withstand the screens, passing, and movement teams will use to negate his impact?
To say Jrue is “underrated” would be tired at this point. What makes him underrated? Perhaps we can’t figure out what he excels at.
All the small things
It starts with his court awareness and positioning. He’s engaged the entire game. No movement is wasted. On defense he gets into help position early, ready to rotate at a moment’s notice. He can stray off his man because he has the speed to close out to shooters and the length to deflect passes.
Playing heavy minutes with Giannis and Middleton, Jrue rarely initiates the offense. Opposing defenders sag off him. To combat this, Jrue moves with purpose, maintaining wide spacing and passing angles as plays develop.
In this clip, Jrue doesn’t have the ball, nor is he guarding the ball, but these subtle plays (two are atypical for guards) help his team win. He bumps a cutter to cause a deflection and an eventual turnover. His textbook denial on the back cut earns him a steal. And he sets a hammer screen against a much bigger player to free up a teammate for a shot.
Jrue does the little things that make big things possible. In the pick and roll, the Bucks drop their big men back to take away shots at the rim, and to protect their bigs who struggle to defend ball handlers in space. Traditionally, this defensive scheme yields open midrange shots. But Jrue's effort and agility to avoid screens and stay attached to ball handlers limits these looks.
Chasing quick, explosive guards over screens will result in occasional blow bys. Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell shook him a few times. But when he gets burned, he makes sure it's first-degree, not third-degree. He gets beat to where the help is. Even juked, he competes to the end of the play. He doesn’t panic or exacerbate the situation by fouling.
Jrue also provides rim protection. He crashes into the paint on lightning-fast rotations to swipe steals and prevent layups. In emergencies, he can get vertical. Here he forces the miss against the 7-foot Thon Maker.
As a playmaker, he’s patient and unselfish. He slows down in transition, foregoing his own chance for points to find streaking teammates. Giannis is often the beneficiary. He storms disorganized defenses on the move for dunks and free throws.
The Bucks move Jrue around the court like a queen on a chessboard. He creates open looks from the dunker’s spot, the corner, and from the top of the arc, orchestrating the pick and roll. When help defenders arrive, he flings passes over his head and behind his back. Here, he slips dimes in transition and lasers the ball with both hands.
His passes can be off-target at times and he picks up his dribble before cracking the defense. But these issues should be smoothed out over the season as he gets accustomed to playing with his new teammates.
Jrue gets offensive
Though not a dead-eye shooter, Jrue decisively fires open catch and shoot jumpers. He attacks closeouts without hesitation if his defender moves toward his All-Star teammates. When the shot clock winds down, Jrue can get buckets too. His silky step-back jumper is a fail-safe to get him an open shot. And his left hand is so skilled. Here, he comes off a double butt screen and floats a southpaw hook over Gobert.
Jrue has a flashy handle — watch how often he unleashes his behind the back dribble — that he employs to get out of tight spots and burn the defense. If he gets an angle on his defender, he bullies his way to the basket for layups and kick out passes – no need to set a screen for him.
He picks his spots to assert his physicality. He’s not the Incredible Hulk; he’s Superman. For stretches of action, he’s engaged by not being assertive. He doesn’t force shots or passes, or drive recklessly into a thicket of defenders. But when the Bucks need him to score, Jrue tosses his glasses, rips open his oxford shirt, and reminds you of his strength. Here, Jordan Clarkson is right with Jrue until he bounces off him.
Guards weren’t the only victims of his bullying. He dominated his matchups with Larry Nance Jr. and Aaron Gordon. They could barely dribble against Jrue’s hounding perimeter defense. Down in the post, they couldn’t use their size advantage to carve out space for open shots. They got stuffed every time.
Jrue to the rescue
The Bucks lead the league in shots taken between 22-18 seconds on the shot clock, considered “very early” by NBA.com. They are also third to last in passes per game. Coach Mike Budenholzer encourages his players to shoot if open. Early offense isn’t bad — encouraging players to shoot instills confidence and empowers them to expand their game.
But the Bucks have been eliminated from the playoffs two years in a row because they failed to adjust when shots stopped going in. In a series where a poor shooting streak can end your season, the Bucks need someone to keep the ball moving instead of letting it fly. The more actions their opponent has to defend, the more likely they are to break down and give up open shots. With his patient playmaking, Jrue will sacrifice decent looks for himself to create these open shots for his teammates.
This patience and versatility makes the Bucks malleable and raises their ceiling to favorites in the East. Jrue provides a steady hand to calm an offense that can get 3 point happy. His balanced shooting, slashing, and playmaking skills allow him to fill any role the team needs. His movement and screening make him a threat off the ball. If Giannis or Middleton are playing well, he will space the floor to give them room to cook. But if Giannis keeps careening into a walled-off paint, or if the Bucks go cold from the 3 point line, Jrue should have the ball in his hands.
At his best, he can blast his way to the hoop for layups and leverage his playmaking to weaponize Giannis and Middleton as finishers. On the other end of the court, he's a linebacker — fast, physical, and unrelenting. He combines steady possession by possession positional defense and the ability to make big plays with his active hands.
For the Bucks to advance to the finals, they have to embrace adjustments. With Jrue, they have a versatile player that unlocks new possibilities on offense and defense. But when the chips are down, how will they use him?