Jrue Holiday

ALL HAIL · Post #1 » by **ALL HAIL** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 4:10 am

If he were to come out (big if), with all the other PG prospects coming out, there might be a possibility of Holiday slipping to the bottom of the first round. This possibility is coupled with the fact that he just had a very forgettable freshman year. For us, however, Holiday would provide much needed defensive versatility.

Will he declare early for the chance to be drafted by a good team at the end of the first round? The Lakers could also use Farmar's rookie contract to trade up a few spots to nab him if they had to.

Or will he simply stay put in Westwood for another year?

DEEP3CL · Post #2 » by **DEEP3CL** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 4:31 am

Dude Holiday isn't NBA ready yet................trust me, he needs to stay. His jumper is shaky and at the NBA level he'd have a hard time getting space. I've seen him ball since high school, he ain't ready yet.

ALL HAIL · Post #3 » by **ALL HAIL** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 4:36 am

Offensively I agree but I think he is ready from a defensive standpoint.

Nevertheless, he will probably stay put because he could potentially make a lot more money next year.

I still think he could help us on defense though.

DEEP3CL · Post #4 » by **DEEP3CL** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 4:52 am

Yeah but his D isn't like Westbrook's either, but he's better than most potential rookies on the defensive end.

LAL4Life · Post #5 » by **LAL4Life** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:38 am

If I'm not mistaken, I think Holiday was gonna stick around for his sophomore year so he could run the team full time now that Collison is leaving. In any case, I can't see him declaring after a freshman season that was so-so at best.

Ghost Snack · Post #6 » by **Ghost Snack** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:26 am

I have some high school tapes of him. but I really don't think he is ready.

ALL HAIL · Post #7 » by **ALL HAIL** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 8:15 pm

Again you all are probably right. It's funny though because, if he were to bounce from UCLA, in my mind, he'd be a Laker. If he were available somewhere around 23-25 we could get him for Farmar, the last pick in the draft and a future pick pretty easily IMO.

He's an LA kid and it's only safe to assume that he's dreamed of playing for the Lakers his whole life.

He's not ready to be the man but he's ready to D up the Parkers, Pauls, Williams, and Rondos of the world.

amb1ent · Post #8 » by **amb1ent** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:33 pm

ALL HAIL wrote:He's an LA kid and it's only safe to assume that he's dreamed of playing for the Lakers his whole life.

i think this is really overemphasized as a factor controlling where players sign...pierce was a inglewood kid and look where he's at. off the top of my head i can think of 3 other guys that grew up in la and happily play elsewhere: arenas (van nuys), prince/chandler (compton)

ALL HAIL · Post #9 » by **ALL HAIL** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:38 am

It'd be real stupid to suggest that LA boys ONLY want to play in LA and won't take money from another team. I'm merely suggesting that as a basketball playing child growing up in LA, like many of us on this board, it's only natural to dream of playing for the the number one show in city ... the Lakers.

KB20 · Post #10 » by **KB20** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:59 am

I doubt he comes out but I would definitely take a look at Collison. This kid is smart and his game is really polished. He's probably the best defensive player in the draft as far as guards are concerned. He's really passionate about the game and I think Kobe would love someone like him on the team.

ALL HAIL · Post #11 » by **ALL HAIL** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:29 am

^I agree. I just wish he was a little taller which would enable him to guard some two guards and play alongside Fish, who I think will play alot of shooting guard next year with Kobe at the three and Kidd at the PG.

But drafting Collison would light an even bigger fire under Farmar than the drafting of Crittenton.

LAL4Life · Post #12 » by **LAL4Life** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 6:07 pm

KB20 wrote:I doubt he comes out but I would definitely take a look at Collison. This kid is smart and his game is really polished. He's probably the best defensive player in the draft as far as guards are concerned. He's really passionate about the game and I think Kobe would love someone like him on the team.

As a UCLA student who's watched every bball game the past three years, I have to disagree. Collison looks good against most college teams because they rarely have NBA-level guys at multiple positions. But when he goes up against really strong, quick, athletic guys, he struggles mightily (see last year against Memphis in the Final 4 and this year's 2nd round game aginst Nova). He's definitely a smart and polished player and he plays with a lot of fire but I just don't think he has the size (I think they list him at 6-2 but I've seen him around campus and I doubt he's over 6feet) or overall athleticism (see games where he;s just physically overmatched by NBA-level guys) to be effective in the league. It's no wonder that against Memphis last year, Westbrook was the only UCLA guy to play well - he was the only NBA-level player on that team (though Love has made huge strides this year).

Gerald3Wallace · Post #13 » by **Gerald3Wallace** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 8:31 pm

B. JENNNINNGSS!!!

Sofa King · Post #14 » by **Sofa King** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 2:57 am

Does it really matter. Phil won't play him his first year anyway.

JesRey · Post #15 » by **JesRey** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 3:37 am

I'd rather have Jordan Farmar than Jrue

Dr IV · Post #16 » by **Dr IV** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 5:02 pm

I don't see him coming out after such a disappointing senior year.

ALL HAIL · Post #17 » by **ALL HAIL** » Thu Apr 2, 2009 2:23 pm

There is some buzz that he is leaning in the direction of LEAVING. I'll say it again: If he were to come out, there is a pretty good chance that he could drop pretty far down the first round and we could pick him up (especially if we use Farmar to move up a few spots).

Like many have stated, he isn't really ready right now for a lot of minutes, but I think he can come in and play good defense behind Jason Kidd next year for about 15 minutes a game.

He is a very impressive defensive player who can guard both guards pretty good.

Jajwanda · Post #18 » by **Jajwanda** » Sat Apr 4, 2009 8:48 pm

It's not even a question. I'd trade Farmar to get him. He might not be ready but he's practically a HS player at a position that takes major skills to succeed in out of HS. I don't even remember the last HS player (Monta maybe?) that came out and dominated at the PG position after just a year. PG is a very tough position in every way. You have to facilitate, score, defend, track down loose jumpers, change the tempo. It'll take a while for any PG coming out to do well unless they've been in college for the requisite two years at least. It's always been the young big men and even more so the SGs and SFs that could make a difference at the pro level quickly.

I'd go for Jrue Holiday in a second and I'll tell you why. He has every requisite goal necessary to become a fantastic presence at the combo guard position playing the PG spot in a way that no one ever has in the triangle (not a really great group of players really).

- Size at 6-3 possibly 6-4
- Lateral quickness is solid when compared to PGs
- Defensive focus
- Work Ethic
- Coaching
- Bare skills are there
- Ability to slash
- Pull up
- Hit the three, eventually with a higher percentage
- Strength
- Lack of ego (Has a major advantage over a certain someone)
- Focused

He's a clean kid as far as his record and he's young. Yes he's not ready but it's crazy to think he doesn't have a huge growth curve ahead of him. If Ariza can grow to where he has Holiday will blow far past him. He can be a guy that can extend Kobe's career into his late 30s and eventually with Bynum lead the middle-late 2010s Lakers.

The only problem we'd have is that there's a good chance he'll be out of range and the only thing we can give is our 1st, a little cash, and a second. If we trade Farmar we lose our backup. I don't know if you can trust Holiday so quickly to backup Fisher. It's not that crazy since Sasha did a solid job there this year and Shannon Brown can be brought back. It's really just a matter of finding perfect fit players for each position. We have one in Kobe at the 2, Gasol at the 4 (well almost, the actual triangle perfect PF would be smaller and quicker but that's besides the point), and the 5 with a developed solid-passing Bynum. We are trying to develop Ariza into our true SF although that will probably not happen (ballhandling, shot, etc won't ever get to a great level). It would make the all the difference though to have a consistent threat in every way from the PG position. Two-way players are rare.

Jajwanda · Post #19 » by **Jajwanda** » Sun Apr 5, 2009 3:38 am

Just checked Farmar's lines for the season, especially game logs. They're nothing special at all. Jrue could be mediocre and still match him.

ALL HAIL · Post #20 » by **ALL HAIL** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:25 am

ALL HAIL wrote:If he were to come out (big if), with all the other PG prospects coming out, there might be a possibility of Holiday slipping to the bottom of the first round. This possibility is coupled with the fact that he just had a very forgettable freshman year. For us, however, Holiday would provide much needed defensive versatility.

Will he declare early for the chance to be drafted by a good team at the end of the first round? The Lakers could also use Farmar's rookie contract to trade up a few spots to nab him if they had to.

Or will he simply stay put in Westwood for another year?

I'll answer my own question ... nope.

He's going pro. We could use him as a backup PG defender.

He could be available if some teams don't see him as being as good as Teague, Flynn, Rubio, Curry, Mills, Evans, Maynor, Lawson, or Jennings (whew! -- there are a lot of good PGs in this draft).