Friday, May 13, 2011
Posted: 12 p.m.
By Dei Lynam
CSNPhilly.com
It was just over two weeks ago when the Sixers exited the playoffs, falling to the Miami Heat in five games. Having also dispatched the Celtics in five games, the Heat will now play the Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals.
A decade ago, the Sixers reached the conference finalsand advanced to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Lakers in five games.
Finally, thanks to Doug Collins, the Sixers are relevant again and back on the path to the finals.
How much farther to they have to go?
We will take position-by-position look at the team, and since the point guard is the quarterback in basketball, well begin there.
Jrue Holiday turns 21 next month. He is one of eight guards in the NBA to start all 82 games this past season. He averaged 14 points and 6.5 assists, and his 530 assists ranked 13th in the league. But his 2.44 assist to turnover ratio was 44th.
Holiday is a better shooter then originally thought. He shot 45 percent from the floor, 36 from behind the arc, and his three-point percentage jumped to 52 percent in the postseason. He made 11 threes in the five games against Miami, including the must-have three with 47 seconds left in Game 4 that pulled the Sixers within a point in a game the Sixers ultimately won by four to stave off elimination.
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It is more difficult to measure Holidays defensive prowess, but he has the strength and size to guard the NBAs best perimeter players. It was during the postseason that Andre Iguodala admitted that as Holidays teammate he held the 20-year-old to a different standard because his potential as a defender could one day land Holiday on the NBAs all-defensive team, which Iguodala was voted to this year for the first time in his career.
Holiday often acknowledges that his best games came when he was first engaged on the defensive end of the floor. Fifteen times he posted 20 points or more and 16 times he tallied double-digit assistsand one winter night in Newark, N.J., Holiday registered his first career triple-double.
Holiday is not lightening fast but his ability to change gears makes him effective at beating his opponent to the rim. While he is right handed, he loves to finish with his left.
Holiday attempted 209 free throws this year, an average of 2.5 per game, fourth on the Sixers behind Lou Williams, Iguodala and Elton Brand.
Finding ways to get to the line is an area Holiday can certainly improve. Dwyane Wade attempted 8.6 free throws per game in the regular season to lead all guards. Oklahoma Citys Russell Westbrook, Chicagos Derrick Rose and New Jerseys Deron Williams all averaged at least six free throws a game.
When Holiday goes to the bench, Williams assumes the point guard responsibilities. There is little if any drop off offensively when Williams takes the floor. He averaged 13.7 points and 3.4 assists while shooting 41 percent from the floor and 35 percent from three-point range, though in the series against the Heat, Williams was just 6 for 20 from long range.
Unlike Holiday, Williams has a knack for getting to the foul line. He averaged a team best 4.7 free throws per game. He was one of 37 players this year to attempt at least 350 free throws (356) and of those on that list Williams played the fewest minutes, 1,747, with Danilo Galinari in front of him with 2,104 minutes.
Defensively Williams can be a liability. He is slender in size and is often giving inches as well as pounds to his opposing player. In Game 5 against the Heat, Williams jumper was not falling. He was 2 for 8 from the field, and he attempted just one free throw. As a result he spent the final 7:56 on the bench, giving way to Evan Turner, who could defend the Heats bigger perimeter players.
During the regular season Williams and Holiday often closed games out together. Finishing games became of greater importance this past season to Williams than his aspirations of being a starter. Williams has 391 NBA games under his belt, but just 38 starts. He came into the league as a teenager and played behind Allen Iverson, which for two years gave him very little time. Then he was Andre Millers backup. When Miller was not brought back as a free agent two summers ago, Williams was anointed the starting point guard.
He had a tremendous start to the 2009-10 season until he suffered a broken jaw that sidelined him for about five weeks. Iverson was brought back, then Holiday saw more time, and before the season ended Holiday had earned the starting spot.
But for the Sixers, Williams is most valuable off the bench. He came in sixth in the Sixth Man of the Year voting and should only continue to improve. He turns 25 in October and has two years remaining on a five-year contract that pays him 6 million next season and 6.3 million in 2012-13.
Until then, with Holiday and Williams, the Sixers shouldnt have to worry about who is playing the point.
Next: Shooting guard on Sunday.
E-mail Dei Lynam at dlynam@comcastsportsnet.com.
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