Holiday takes the Point

Last night was magical. The crowd was rocking (even some of the blue hairs stood up!) and our BB Warriors came out to play and gave TrOJies a fierce spanking.

But one thing that stood out for me last night more than anything else. It was the play of JH at the point. I didn't read the game thread so I don't know if anyone saw how much he played there, but he was just masterful at executing the pick-and-roll finding DG and AA and others several times cutting to the basket or open on the wing after he came off a pick or drove to the rack. He finished with 7 assists which is very impressive.

The reason I believe he is effective in this roll is his length and finishing ability. I think teams have to continue to help on defense as he slashes to the hoop, and his strength and height make it much easier to find the open man than DC or JA (who also played big minutes at the point last night).

This is still DC's team and he will be at the helm during crunch time in games, and I still think JH exposes the ball a bit too much on his first move, but having him at the point opens up the offense and makes the other team have to alter their defenses which creates easy opportunities for our Bruin big men in the paint.

Tough game on Saturday with an early start and a hungry Irish team looking to snap a 6 game losing streak. I am sure N and the boys with highlight this more over the next couple of days, but I'm worried about a let down on Saturday.

Any thoughts???

9 months ago Bald Eagle 7 comments 0 recs |

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Opposing defenses and blowouts

The reason that JH and JA handled the ball more yesterday and the last few games is because teams have been focusing their defense to stop DC. Remember after the UW game IIRC Dentmon said something to the effect of “DC is the head of the snake, you cut him off, the rest of the team will follow.” I bring this up b/c it is is important to keep in mind that the offense is running so well and JH is making plays because of the attention other team’s are focusing on DC. To his credit, DC hasn’t tried to force anything and has been content to play a supportive role and concentrate on causing havoc on defense.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the last 3 games have all been blowouts. If you look at DC’s performances this season, his “worst” statistical games are in the pre-conference season when we were blowing teams out and his best (usually) in close games against better teams. A fool would say “we must be better when DC doesn’t have a good game and worse when DC dominates the offense.” This simply isn’t true. In games where he isn’t needed, DC lets his teammates carry the team and get more shots. In games where it is close and he needs to takeover, he does.

JH is going to be a special player and JA has improved remarkable over this season, but before you make any snap judgments about them being pg over DC, keep the above 2 points in mind.

by bruinponcho on Feb 5, 2009 11:12 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

I don't think so..

My FanShot was more about JH’s increased minutes at the point and how successful he was. Not about other teams adjusting to DC or defending DC any differently. It also had little to do with the score of the game because JH was playing the point when the game was still in question in the first half. I was merely commenting on how efficient he was from the 1 spot and not the 2 where he has been playing most of the season.

I was pretty clear that I believed this was still DC team. He is the floor general and will continue to lead this team. But we were particularly efficient with JH at the point. The adjustments teams may be making are as much about DC being the “head of the snake” as they are, IMHO, about where he is playing. Defenses must set up differently with him at the 2 making it easier for JH to create for himself and others.

If my Shot seemed to be advocating for a change, then I apologize for any confusion. It was more about an observation of how I thought the experiment of JH at the point was working. And I truly believe it worked well last night.

by Bald Eagle on Feb 5, 2009 11:43 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I won't say DC isn't our best point guard

But JH is better at getting the ball inside to our big men. Last season and for most of this season we have had difficulty feeding the ball inside to our big men. We have gotten in trouble because teams just pack it in and we become a pure perimeter offense (ASU is the most glaring example). This was especially troubling last year because we had many games where the opposing team could not match up with Love but Collison and Westbrook had difficulty finding him.

I think that Holiday taking time running the point has been a big reason for the last 3 blowouts. DC runs the offense very well, gets big runs started, and can take over with scoring when the offense is stagnant. But now JH can use his penetration to feed the ball to the big men for easy points (good when outside shots aren’t falling), which forces the defense to adjust to him and frees up our shooters in the process. When the defense makes that adjustment, DC takes back the point and works more of his magic.

I personally love seeing these two guys switch off the job of running the offense. They each add a different dimension to our very potent offense. Because of that, opposing defenses cannot pick one kind of defense and stick to it, they have to continually adjust and this opens up the floor for easy layups and open threes.

DC is one of the best point guards in the country, but our offense is better when he shares the role with Jrue Holiday. Ben Howland has really outdone himself bringing this wrinkle into the offense (notice we haven’t had any 6+ minute scoring droughts since the change) and I think it makes the team that much better.

It’s just too bad our coach has no idea how to coach offense.

by Rhapsode on Feb 5, 2009 11:46 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Well said, Rhapsode...

by Bald Eagle on Feb 5, 2009 1:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

JH still has a lot learn

There was one play that definitely showed that yesterday. SC was using its full court press to get back in the game. For the most part, UCLA broke it with good passing. However, on one inbound, JH decided he could dribble throught the press and waved off his teammates. He got double teamed at half court, gave up his driblble, and lost the ball which lead to a quick score for SC. CBH called timeout and put DC back in. DC then showed how you are suppose to dribble through a full court press.

I do think JH will learn from this. He needs to get better at being the PG so that teams will pay for focusing their defense on DC.

by Gen2Bruin1987 on Feb 5, 2009 1:20 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I noticed that too...

but JH stayed in the game, only he moved back to the 2. I agree, JH is not our best pure ball handler, especially in traffic. But this is small negative and while he has lots to learn, he is still one of our best options and could probably start for all but a few schools in the Country at point gaurd.

by Bald Eagle on Feb 5, 2009 1:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Telegraphed passes

JH also had a couple telegraphed passes yesterday that were typical of a freshman. One egregious one was the entry pass that he lobbed in after staring at the post for a few seconds that went directly to the SC player. As I said earlier, JH is a fantastic player and our team is definitely better with him out there doing his thing, but he is still a young player who accordingly makes some silly mistakes that more senior players don’t. It isn’t a knock on him, it is just that when DC has the ball, there is no doubt that he is in control of the game. Either way, having “which future 1st round pick do we want as our point guard” is a problem I will take any day.

Go Bruins!

by bruinponcho on Feb 5, 2009 4:04 PM PST reply actions 0 recs