Milwaukee Bucks must unleash Jrue Holiday more offensively going into Game 2
From Holiday’s role and workload on the defensive side of the ball, it’s time to turn our attention in how he can get going in Game 2 against the Suns.
Holiday’s struggles were evident from early on and he was unable to shake them all night long as he finished with 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting (0-for-4 from deep), nine assists, seven boards and three turnovers.
There’s no question that Holiday had to adjust with having superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo back in action and we saw Holiday often settling for jumpers rather than forcing the issue and getting to the rack. After averaging 30.7 frontcourt touches per game in the Bucks’ Conference Finals series with the Atlanta Hawks, Holiday had 23 frontcourt touches, including two paint touches, for Game 1.
Meeting with the media Wednesday afternoon in between Games 1 and 2, Holiday spoke about his performance and the lack of aggression we saw from him offensively:
"“Pick my spots to be aggressive, and I think sometimes it’s gotten me in trouble,” Holiday said. “I think I’ve got to be aggressive from the beginning of the game. Sometimes it gets just a bit difficult, or it’s just a bit different, again, because we have another ball handler and somebody that’s great in transition and makes plays for others.”"
Of course, the Bucks can certainly make life easier for Holiday by incorporating more pick-and-roll looks to get him going downhill in a less cluttered paint. It’s also on Holiday to better recognize when and where to pick his spots than he did in Game 1.
We’ll just have to see whether we’ll see a more comfortable and productive Holiday in Game 2.