Milwaukee Bucks: Jrue Holiday’s influence is showing down the stretch

With less than three weeks left this 2020-21 season, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this has been the strangest for the Milwaukee Bucks under the Mike Budenholzer era.

Coming off a loss where they collapsed in the fourth quarter to the Atlanta Hawks provided a perfect example of the unusual lows that have followed after coming off the high of sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers. The ebbs and flows the Bucks have experienced have been accompanied by key absences, with the most recent example being Giannis Antetokounmpo.

More from Bucks News

• Bucks 2023-24 player profile: Can MarJon Beauchamp take a leap?
• Piecing together the Milwaukee Bucks’ dream starting 5 in 5 years
• Predicting Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s 2023-24 stats for the Bucks
• Grade the trade: Bucks land reputable backup guard in swap with Pacers
• New workout video should have Milwaukee Bucks fans excited

As the Bucks managed life without Antetokounmpo during that stretch, it showed the growing influence that Jrue Holiday is having this Bucks team as he continues acclimating in Milwaukee. So much so that Holiday has seemingly emerged as the Bucks’ second option alongside Antetokounmpo.

As the Bucks have risen towards contending status under Budenholzer, that role responsibility and scrutiny has fallen on Khris Middleton. While Middleton’s bore the brunt of criticism on all fronts and especially since earning his most recent contract, he’s also had his moments such as when he delivered a game-saving performance in Game 4 of the Bucks’ Conference Semifinals series against the Miami Heat last year.

Middleton’s importance hasn’t disappeared nor has the expectations to play up to a high standard when it matters most. However, Holiday has changed the calculus for this Bucks team and seeing him gradually take on a bigger role, especially after the All-Star break and returning to action after having COVID-19, has given the Bucks a different dimension to how this Bucks team has historically operated.

Jrue Holiday has lived up to high expectations for the Milwaukee Bucks

When the Bucks traded for Holiday in the offseason, the hope was, and still is, that he is the missing piece for the Bucks in the playoffs. Just as he admitted on the ‘Old Man & the Three’ podcast hosted by JJ Redick, Holiday has admitted to going through and adjustment process playing alongside Antetokounmpo and Middleton in particular:

"“Being able to play off them has made the game a lot easier and I’m not going to lie, more fun to play. There was a struggle there where I felt like I’m just running up and down, running to the dunker, but now we’re in this groove where I feel like they trust me, especially Giannis. Khris I think from the beginning he knew, but Giannis had to trust me and we had to feel each other out a little bit yet.”"

While it wasn’t a seamless a transition and Holiday having COVID put a pause on acclimating next to Antetokounmpo and Middleton, but that is no longer the case by any measure. Add in the fact that Holiday signed a four-year, $160 million contract extension earlier this month and that has  reassured all Bucks fans that this process will continue in the years to come.

Holiday’s control of the flow of the game is wholly impressive. His decision making is always on point and lets the game come to him in regards to knowing when to shoot it or dish it out to a teammate. It’s in the latter where Holiday’s vision and ability to deliver precise passes that set up Bucks shooters waiting in their respective spots on the floor.

If that wasn’t enough, Holiday’s defensive prowess has been exactly as advertised. Whether it’s guarding a premier scoring guard and taking on assignments well above his size, Holiday has had no problem taking on any and all kind of different defensive matchups. That has only led to him shutting down some notable names during the highs of this Bucks season.

It’s in the minutes where Holiday is not on the floor where the Bucks have struggled to replicate each and every little thing that Holiday has brought to the Bucks. The biggest compliment one can give Holiday is that when he is not on the floor, the Bucks are not the same, even with Antetokounmpo and/or Middleton on the court.

Holiday has fortified the Bucks’ ‘Big 3’ in some ways that we expected going into the year and ways that we couldn’t have possibly dreamed of. How that will continue to affect the Bucks when it matters most is the question that’s on the front all Bucks fans minds.