Jrue Holiday speaks for many NBA guards when he describes what happens whenever a power forward or center is forced into defending him off the dribble, often the result of a pick-and-roll play. Holiday is virtually always much quicker, much faster and more athletic than the big man tasked with slowing down the 6-foot-4, deft ballhandler.
“Usually as a guard, when you see a big guy on you (one-on-one), you think it’s going to be a cakewalk,” Holiday said. “An automatic bucket.”
Then again, as a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, Holiday has the good fortune of never dealing with the situation backcourt players from the other 29 NBA teams face: Trying to navigate past the 6-foot-11 Anthony Davis, a teammate of Holiday’s since 2013.