"Jrue is similar, but he's just quiet. Russell is more vocal, he's more animated. Jrue is so reserved, but Jrue has that same competitive nature. He gets at it similarly [to Westbrook]. Both are pit bulls, one is a blue nose, one is a red nose."
Whether Holiday gets to play in the showcase game, this year on Feb. 17 in Houston, will be out of his control. In the most recent balloting, he was eighth among backcourt players in the East, so if he does get in, it will be through the selection of coaches. The respect opposing teams show him is on par with stars throughout the league.
In Tuesday's win over the Lakers, in which Holiday went for 26 points and 10 assists, coach Mike D'Antoni put Kobe Bryant on Holiday for much of the fourth quarter. When that wasn't working, multiple Lakers ran at the point guard in an effort to get the ball out of his hands. Holiday is playing that well right now.
"Oh, yeah, of course [he deserves to be an All-Star]," said Jason Richardson, who has played with and against many All-Stars in his 12 NBA seasons. "What Jrue's been doing this year, he definitely deserves to have consideration for being an All-Star for the first time. You just never know. It might be a situation where they say, 'This guy has more wins than that guy.' It's not all about individual stats. I think, hands down, he should be on the All-Star team."
Richardson had an opposing view of Holiday for the point guard's first three seasons, and has never been more impressed as he is this season, as one of his teammates.
"Leaps and bounds [better]; he took a big step forward," Richardson said. "You want to see that from a young guy, especially from the point guard of your team. If he continues to grow like this, 1 year, 2 years from now, he will be a top-five point guard and an All-Star every year."
The road trip
Every year, just after Christmas, the 76ers pack their bags and endure the longest road trip of the season, as the Wells Fargo Center hosts "Disney on Ice." This year, they played eight straight road games, with 13 consecutive days on the road. The grind drains a player physically and mentally, and when you're a team that can win very few games solely on talent, that mental grind is debilitating.
"I've never been on a road trip as long as this," Jason Richardson said. "It's been a pretty decent trip. It lets you know that you have to play every play, you can't take a play off. You have to have clock management and you have to do the right things all the time. I think we grew in those games that we were right there and could have won. It's going to help us in the long run."
The long run includes a lot of home cooking for the team in the month of January. Starting with Tuesday's home game against the Brooklyn Nets, the Sixers will play 13 of 15 games at the Wells Fargo Center. While the long road trip isn't a season-killer, it is borderline unbearable.
"This doesn't compare to anything that I can remember, just being on the road right after Christmas for this long experience is pretty different," Royal Ivey said. "Coming into the New Year and still being on the road? This is a 13-day road trip. I know all the teams do it, but I think some of the teams, their trips are cut up in four or five games and they go back home. But eight straight games? I haven't been on one of these."
Moultrie update
Heading into Friday, Sixers first-round pick Arnett Moultrie had played five games in the NBA Development League for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. In those games, in which Moultrie started once, he's averaged 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in 27 minutes a game.
For those who think Moultrie could have given the Sixers some help down low, his game was still way too rusty to get meaningful minutes. After suffering a severe ankle sprain on his final predraft workout, Moultrie was in a boot for close to 3 months and didn't get back on the court until just about training camp. It's impossible for a rookie to get back in shape, learn a whole new league and team system and then be able to produce in any kind of positive way. The move to the NBADL was the best way for him to find his game again and shake the cobwebs off after so much time away from the court.
cooneyb@phillynews.com On Twitter: @BobCooney76
Blog: philly.com/Sixerville
