Holiday Bursts Through Infamous Rookie Wall?

I read the following article that stated the above.  Very nice article.    Not so sure that he has burst through that wall yet but I hope it is true.  I personally believe he would be much farther along IF we had a coach.  Anyway, article after the jump!  BTW, Jrue is my favorite 76er now. 

While most of the rookies around the NBA are being stopped in their tracks by the notorious rookie wall, Philadelphia’s rookie point guard Jrue Holiday is crashing through it. Last month he averaged an impressive 27.5 minutes per game and he’s showing no signs of slowing down as he’s scored more than 20 points in two of Philadelphia’s last four games.

This afternoon Holiday continued to up the ante by combining his scoring exploits (21 points) with seven rebounds and six dimes.

After the game when reporters asked him if he’s over being called a rookie he grinned before responding, “I’ve been over that for a minute.”

Some of the proof he’s close to shedding his label as a rookie came with how he was his able to deal with some adversity late in the game.  In the final minutes of the fourth quarter he committed what looked to be a costly tough turnover that would have gotten most rookies benched or would have hurt their confidence.

Not Holiday.

Instead, he rallied around his mental miscue and was a big reason why Philadelphia was able to escape Toronto with a big road win.

“After he made the turnover at half court he knew he made a bad play,” Eddie Jordan told the media after the game. “He stepped up, cleared his head and he attacked when he had to. That’s what we need him to do.”

Attack could be a bit of an understatement.

With Toronto clawing back to within eight late in the fourth quarter most coaches would yank a rookie when he committed a mental mistake late in a close game. Jordan, however, stuck with his rookie and Holiday rewarded him by scoring five straight points to ignite a late surge which gave Philly a 107-84 advantage.

Throw in an assist on Thaddeus Young’s three-pointer on the following possession and Holiday’s imprint on the end of the game was easy to see.

After a season with minimal attention from the media, following the game Holiday was taking his time getting changed before he could escape the locker room and jump on the teams bus. Which is fair, because it would be easy to assume the media would want to chat with Marresse Speights about the injury to his knee, Young about his career-high 32 points or get the two faces of the franchise – Andre Igoudala and Elton Brand – to provide quotes to fill up game recaps.

However, the focus of the media tonight was easily Holiday and how he’s able to cap off an impressive rookie season by playing some of his best basketball when his peers are fading.

Needless to say the modest Holiday was in for a pleasant surprise when a huge horde of media was patiently waiting for him at his locker. When he spotted the group of media waiting for him first his eyes widened in shock and then a huge smile stretched across his face.

While the brief moment of modesty was refreshing, if Holiday continues to play inspired ball like he did this afternoon he can expect to get a lot more attention from the media.

Here’s to hoping this is one aspect of the NBA that Holiday doesn’t adapt to because modesty while dealing with the media was almost as impressive as what he did on the court this afternoon.

link:  http://www.hoopsaddict.com/holiday-bursts-through-infamous-rookie-wall/