A point guard locking down All-Star centers!?

Jrue Holiday matching up with Joel Embiid? And succeeding?? In this enhanced segment from the Thinking Basketball podcast, Cody and Ben break down how the Celtics are using a creative strategy with their point guard on opposing centers, allowing Kristaps Porzingis to roam near the basket.

--Full episode--

Twitter: @elgee35

Ben Taylor is the author of Thinking Basketball, a Nylon Calculus contributor, creator of the Backpicks Top 40 series & host of the Thinking Basketball podcast.

Stats courtesy:
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Footage in this video is owned by the NBA and its partners. It is intended for critique and education.

[justaverage]

The level of versatility Jrue brings to a defence is honestly incredible

[Fettclone]

This is insane, and KAT's visible frustration makes it even better.

[Tomtainius]

I've been waiting for a Jrue DPOY season for so long now. I really think this could be the year

[SSEF]

players like Holiday and Caruso are such a joy to watch, as good as the positionless offensive game has gotten players like them are to be treasured

[johndenver]

Man I wish Jrue got this much coverage in MIL! Us bucks fans knew how big a loss this was and the trade off for Dame's offense was gonna be rough. Not THIS rough but man I wish Jrue the best. He's great on defense and his post bully ball is fantastic on offense. He's also incredible in the community, he and his wife are missed in Milwaukee.

[bleeperton]

I love KAT's signature move: fake left, drive right, then complain to the refs

[LeviNotik]

Jrue Holiday is just an unreal athlete. I've never enjoyed watching defense so much. Just pure art and athleticism.

[Mike_Z]

Jrue and D-White together is great to watch and they are competitive with eachother about their defense

[michaelmcfadden]

I love Jrue/Draymond players.
Doesn't matter at all their actual stats/numbers as they add SO much with intangibles.

[Applejackification]

I’m glad you guys had analysis on this. Bostons defensive versatility & schemes with Jrue will be a sight to see!

[RomnysGonzalez]

While the BOS raise up to even higher peaks...Bucks went downhill.

The bucks underestimate the massive impact Jrue got for them in both side of the court.

[monkeymoo]

Jrue is an elite athlete and his strength is insane

[Hoops_Fan]

Its pretty incredible that the Brad Stevens flipped Marcus Smart for three first rounders and got Porzingis in return as well. Then he flipped two firsts, Time Lord and matching salary for Jrue, who essentially plays the Smart role with better offence.

[nellyville]

Jrue Holiday has energy paired with versatility and intelligence to defend every position also underrated athleticism 😮

[redj]

I’m so glad this part of the podcast made it onto the channel, I really enjoyed this episode!

[Davivd]

Jrue has been underrated his entire career.

[ollytropics]

This is why ive always liked strong guards they areso much more versatile

[cliffwoodbury]

The Bucks gained one of the best offensive players ever - sure. But they got rid of a very good offensive player and a defensive beast. They (bucks) had no holes in their defense unlike the Celtics (to small) and now they have a huge weakness and Boston has no weakness on defense and got better on the offensive end.

[marcopignone]

Embiid needs to employ bully ball much more often. He stubbornly insists on trying to prove his dribbling/slashing skills which he all know he has, but doesn't need to utilize in most situations. He needs to release his inner Shaq against smaller/weaker defenders.

[rodk]

I expect jrue to have one of his best defensive seasons on the celtics. On the bucks, we asked him to be the 3rd or 2nd option on offense while also guarding the best perimeter player. Giannis even talked about how we asked to much from him to guard the best player and run the offense as the point guard. Hes going to shine now since he is like the 4th or 5th option on offense now.