Jrue isn’t dumb, but his comments here are just so wrong. He has it completely backwards. College basketball in general places less of an emphasis on defense and it’s generally more “fun.” Jrue Holiday just chose to go to one of the few places where the coach focuses on defense.

Did he not know anything about Ben Howland’s defense first style before committing to UCLA? It’s not some secret. He could have played for Lorenzo Romar or Roy Williams, but he chose the program that primarily focuses on defense. If all he wanted to do was have fun, he could have gone anywhere else.

I still believe that Holiday can thrive in CBH’s system next season as he will have more control over the ball. However, he’s not helping himself or the UCLA basketball program with these comments.

The signal/chatter coming from his people in the background are worse.

Please just hire an agent and get this over with, i’m tired of this

That’s definitely the wrong attitude to take if he wants to play at the next level. The NBA will not be “fun” for you if you do not play defense. No coach is going to give a rookie minutes if he can’t adequately defend, to say nothing of offensive abilities. He would do well to read the Ian Thomsen article from a couple months back:

“They don’t play defense in the NBA.‘’ Said Celtics coach Doc Rivers: "That’s one you always hear, and then the [college] players get up here and realize they didn’t play defense there [in college].’’

If I may paraphrase, Rivers is saying that the defense is far more sophisticated and demanding in the NBA. I asked Heat rookie point guard Mario Chalmers, MVP of last year’s Final Four, how many defensive schemes he learned in college. "We had four or five defenses at Kansas,’’ he said in Boston this week.

How many defenses are schemed by the Heat? "I don’t know,‘’ said Chalmers, who called across the locker room to Miami assistant coach Ron Rothstein. "Coach, how many defenses do we run?’’

Rothstein wasn’t quite sure how to answer. "We defend for the pick-and-roll,‘’ he said, "for isolation, for the catch-and-shoot, for the single screen, for the double screen, for the side pick-and-roll …’’ He went on and on.

“You’re talking about more than a dozen defenses,’’ Chalmers said.

Said Rothstein: "The NBA is about defensive situations. You have a way you operate, and then you go from there. Depending on the team you’re playing, you make changes.’’

Wonder if young Jrue has any recollection of an old-timer, used to play for the Bulls, a guy named Michael.

*This vintage, old-school cat was having so much fun doing this:
*
Nine-time NBA All-Defensive First Team Selection (1988-1993, 1996-1998)
NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1988)

Which seemed to correlate with having even more fun doing this:
 6× NBA Champion (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)
 5× NBA MVP (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998)

Then, ended up earning these sorts of accolades:
MJ was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press’s list of athletes of the century. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 6, 2009 and will be inducted in September 2009.

Ya, Jrue, maybe you’re right that defense is not important in the NBA…

DISCLAIMER: The following is speculation on my part, and a hypothesis I have brought together based on a few things that I have observed from last season. I admit I could be totally off base with this, but it’s been nagging me all season.

This is just a gut feeling that I have, but I don’t think Jrue REALLY believes that he doesn’t need to be good at defense to be excellent in the NBA. His not-so-reverent comments towards UCLA may just reflect his experience last season.

Perhaps, and this is purely speculation on my part, that throughout his first season at UCLA, he was getting increasingly discontent with his situation there. Perhaps he felt he was a better pg than Collison yet never got the chance at that position, or perhaps he had more friction with some of the upperclassmen than was revealed to the public eye. I see this as a strong reasoning for his several indirect expressions that he was held back beyond his potential.

As was pointed out throughout the season, Jrue chose to be deferential to the upperclassmen, and I see how that could lead to a bit of resentment towards somebody or anybody, especially for a teenage kid. But Jrue is not a bad kid, and he wants to believe that the chips last year just did not fall his way. In that kind of a situation, I could see why Jrue would not hesitate to “move on” to the NBA, where agents and trainers would woo him with words reaffirming that he has great potential. His comments intimating that he was not the happiest camper at UCLA might just be a result of his holding in his discontentment all season.

I can’t pass any judgment on Jrue as I don’t really know what’s truly going on, but I think the comments he makes like the ones mentioned above are damaging against him if he were to return to UCLA, and still reflects poorly on him if he does not. I hope the best for the kid, but more than that I hope he gains the maturity and great character that Coach emphasizes as more important than just playing ball.

What do you all think?

Can I just vomit a little at the phrase “the Lakers’ Adam Morrison?”

FWIW, I bought DVDs of both the UCLA-Gonzaga game (you know the one) and the 1995 National Championship game against Arkansas.

Without taking anything away from the title or the players, the 95 game is not even 1/10th as exciting as the Gonzaga game (not to mention the difference between the announcers for each game). The only interesting things about the title game, in hindsight, are the stellar play of Ed O and Toby Bailey, the expression on Nolan Richardson’s face, and his unbelievably horrendous Dayglo suit. Joe Pesci’s suits in “My Cousin Vinny” were not as bad. Plus, if you watch the 95 game, you occasionally have to see Lorenzo Romar and the Lizard of Westwood. No thanks.

Do yourself a favor and spring for the Gonzaga DVD. It is so great, you’ll wear it out. I literally cannot watch the last minute or so without tears in my eyes.

I know I’m way off OT and I apologize for that.

I think the chemistry has been ruined — the chemistry between the fan base and the team. Were I Jure, or members of the team, I’d not appreciate the escalating attacks on Jrue in the blogs.

As to Jrue and his team mates, he was tightly united with his freshmen classmates — as evidenced in the article posted here, during the season.

My fear is not that Jrue decides to come back and can’t mesh with the team. My fear is that he won’t come back because he can’t mesh with the fan base that has attacked him.

Nestor,

I trust you when you say there have been background attacks by JH’s “handlers”.

But, I’ve actually looked for them and not found them. I guess they are in places I don’t or can’t go. Not challenging their existence just looking for them.

I’d like to read them because much of my disagreement with the many who post against JH are are based in my belief that they are either misinterpreting the comments or taking them out of context.

I’m solidly with ’83 — lord knows what my parents said about me at different times of my life, or what I have said in support of my daughter — that would mortify me, or her.

I hold JH responsible for what he says, not what those around him say.

For example, I totally disagree with the characterization of the public statements made by Jrue. When taken, in context, they are not critical. I’ve already written about them — and won’t repeat my points, again. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the original statement he made at his press conference — nothing — if you read it and not accept someone’s characterization of it.

I also held back when, in a front page post, someone made a point about CBH sitting there at JH’s press conference — from a sense of duty and not sincere support for his player; the implication was that CBH was being disingenuous which is rather insulting to CBH.

I pointed out that KL and his dad said things similar to what was allegedly said about JH. Although I don’t find the statements to denigrate our program in any way — others disagree. For those who do, however, it is also disingenuous for them to say it is OK for KL to say those things because he had a better first year than JH. One does not earn the right to say bad things about UCLA. If they are bad when JH says them, they are bad when KL says them — and, remember, I don’t think they said anything wrong in the first place.

Finally, the attacks on Jrue have been much more emotional than factual. Talk of being bitter or disappointed at a player whose overall numbers put him in the top 3 in many important categories is not based on performance but rather emotion.

One last thing — I don’t think it fair to say that some of these nasty attacks on JH are appropriate because he is an athlete who will some day be a pro and will be attacked as a pro. He’s a kid, a Bruin and this is not the place or time to call him names. Discuss his stat’s — fine, but don’t challenge his heart.

CBH thought enough of JH to make and keep him a starter. I trust his judgment of JH’s performance more than I trust anyone else’s.

Are Bruin fan’s posts the kind of stupid stuff being attributed to JH and his retinue?

Is there any basis to believe that Bruin fan is in any way formally associated with JH so as to be speaking for him?