As the starter from day one for first-year coach Doug Collins, Holiday has a basketball IQ and poise that belie his age. But he also has the athletic ability, the spring in his legs, and the capacity to run all day that take advantage of his youth.
One of the reasons the Sixers are enjoying a turnaround season, with a 33-31 record entering the weekend after a 27-55 fiasco last year, is the play of Holiday and how this new-era guard has jelled with his old-school coach.
"He's an old soul for 20," Collins said. "He has a great family, he loves basketball and cares deeply about his job, and that is why I love being around him."
Holiday is more than holding his own while playing the deepest position in the NBA. He entered the weekend having played in every game for the Sixers, and he has contributed in a variety of ways, averaging 13.9 points, 6.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in 35.3 minutes. He has averaged 2.6 turnovers, not an outlandish figure for somebody who wasn't even a point guard on his own college team.
In his one year at UCLA, Holiday played off the ball, while current Indiana Pacers point guard Darren Collison ran the Bruins' offense.
So in essence, Holiday has had to learn the position in the most unforgiving environment - the NBA.
"He has played a lot of AAU ball, and in AAU there is no importance on time management or time of possession or finding mismatches," said Sixers swingman Andre Iguodala. "It's kind of like you play up and down."
It's a style that Holiday thrives in, the transition game. But Iguodala said he was most impressed with his point guard's ability to adapt to situations.
"He has done a great job of keying in on, if somebody has the hot hand, giving him the ball," Iguodala said. "He has a long way to go because he is so young, but for Jrue the sky is the limit."
