Lost In Space

Photo via bluefam on Flickr

Chances are you haven’t heard of Kevin Gilbertson. In 2001 as a 22-year-old web developer in Blaine, Minnesota Gilbertson launched a free site called TinyURL.com in an effort to make it easier for him to spread his love of unicycles throughout internet message boards without dealing with cumbersome web addresses. The site receives upwards of five million unique hits a month, its existence has helped revolutionize the dissemination of ideas and information on Twitter and yet we would hardly place Gilbertson in the same company as Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Sean Parker (Napster) or Jeff Bezos (Amazon).

While the respective impact of these aforementioned conglomerates far exceed the current social consequences of Gilbertson’s brain child, it’s a quality and poignant addition to the social media universe. The relative indifference to TinyURL is a byproduct of the times. The last fifteen years have been an amalgamation of web growth. So saturated have our minds become with this endless stream of HTML derived creations, that save for the few brilliant conceived ideas that weave their way seamlessly into the ebb and flow of our day (ie: Can I get your number? Sure, just Facebook me), we tend to view the rest as filler. These ideas taken for granted.

Thus is the predicament facing Jrue Holiday in this golden age of point guards.

Trying to gain notoriety as a young floor general in today’s NBA is akin to maintaining a sustainable income as a late 90’s internet based business – good luck. But as one of the youngest players in the league at 20 years old and forced into quarterbacking an offense, Holiday has not only made significant strides from his rookie season, but is surprisingly doing things on a basketball court that few players with his experience have ever done.

Consider that the triple-double posted by the UCLA product last week made him just the 12^th player under the age of 21 to accomplish that feat in the last quarter century. Furthermore, only he, Tyreke Evans, Lamar Odom and Chris Webber managed to do so in less than 40 minutes. Yet this achievement has gone largely unseen, maybe because it was against the Nets, maybe because it was a quiet line (11-10-11) or maybe because John Wall still in the midst of his early season hype machine reached that plateau in November.

At present Holiday is averaging nearly seven assists and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.4 which puts the youngster in even rarer company than his individual excellence against the Garden State basement dwellers. Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook are the only other floor generals in the last 25 years under the age of 21 to dish out that many assists (6 or more) with such a low turnover rate (3 or less).

But Holiday isn’t Rose nor is he Westbrook. He won’t wow the masses with otherworldly explosiveness that makes us question the very boundaries of what a point guard is capable of. Our preconceived notions of the position aren’t altered by watching him play. Even as little as five years ago he would have been viewed through the scope of his promising potential rather than what he isn’t at present. But potential lacks the same punch it once did unless accompanied by earth shattering athleticism or the kind of skill set that endangers the well being of opposing ankles – even when it could be a glimpse of something great.

Holiday’s craftiness and improved decision making (due in no small part to the addition of Doug Collins as a head coach) have bred a guard capable of hurting teams in plethora of ways. According to Synergy Sports Technology, his isolation derived offense (shot attempts and passes) produces nearly 1.02 points per possession and yields an adjusted field goal percentage of 53.8 – both of which are superior to the likes of Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash with a higher usage rate. In fact using the points per possession metric he’s nearly as efficient as Chris Paul just with better shooting marks.

The same can be said for his pick and roll derived offense, the lifeblood of the NBA’s elite playmakers. The .933 points per possession Holiday produces with a nearly 50% mark in adjusted field goal percentage is better than Rose, Westbrook, Brandon Jennings and nearly on par with Deron Williams. Yet the future of the 76ers backcourt doesn’t approach any of these aforementioned players, not even Jennings who from nearly any statistical metric is a step behind Holiday in their second pro seasons.

Ultimately though, much like in the swashbuckling world of the internet, Holiday has far too many factors working against him to be properly appreciated for what he is. Some sites like Stub Hub,  owned my Ebay are simply associated with success (Parker and the Spurs, Rondo and the Celtics) so for a site with less impressive numbers (Philly’s sub-.500 record) it’s an almost impossible battle. Others like Facebook and Twitter generate a level of hype that simply can’t be touched. So when the much more heralded Brandon Jennings notches 55 points early in his rookie season, the bravado of a fast start sustains him through year number two ahead of a number 17 pick who slides to the middle of the pack in a loaded point guard class.

Is Holiday an elite floor general at present? No more than TinyURL is among the leading traffic generating sites on the web. The trouble is we don’t always get to choose when and how we come along. Holiday, even if should he continue to grow and improve, may always be left in the dark, overlooked and underappreciated as a result of the spectacular era of point guards he plays in. Will we remember him as a star or as his generations Terrell Brandon? Chances are it will be somewhere in between, revolutionary for his team, overlooked by many, but appreciated by those with the foresight to log in.