In two seasons as a Milwaukee Buck, Jrue Holiday has certainly made everyone forget about Eric Bledsoe, a good point guard but ultimately too flawed to start for a title contender. At times last season, he looked like the Bucks’ second-best player, but he didn’t have the All-Star buzz that his two-time All-Star teammate Khris Middleton did. Neither were selected as the Bucks’ second All-Star, though, an honor the team received during their dominant 2018–19 and 2019–20 regular seasons.
In hindsight, that still seems defensible: the Bucks weren’t mowing down the league at the time with a 22-14 record, good for third in the East. Middleton’s efficiency and scoring each took a slight step back from the previous season (one where he should have been selected to an All-NBA team) though remained very good. Holiday’s numbers before the All-Star break were solid but not outstanding: 15.3 PPG, 4/3 RPG, 5.1 APG on .491/.364/.766 shooting (he’d pick things up after the break).
Currently, the Bucks are third in the East and percentage points below Brooklyn at 25-14. By virtue of being the defending champs, though, they have a much better shot at a second All-Star this season. Khris Middleton’s production is definitely down from last year, and while it’s nothing to be too concerned about yet, it’s not really worthy of a third All-Star selection when his teammate has a much better case.
Holiday has simply been the superior player this year. He’s played 5 more games too, even after missing a few early on with some leg injuries. Though he struggled for a week or two upon his return, since around Thanksgiving he’s been on fire: 21.3 PPG, 7 APG, 4.9 RPG, 1.6 SPG and just 2.4 turnovers per game on .561/.411/.719 (yes, he has struggled a bit at the line, but not on high volume) shooting in his past 21 games. Holiday has shot below 50% from the field in only three of those games and is now up to 62% in the restricted area, above his career mark (61.3%) after wallowing below 50% in his first several games back from injury.
Leave a Reply