{"id":168955,"date":"2025-12-05T09:54:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T14:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=168955"},"modified":"2025-12-05T09:54:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T14:54:40","slug":"jrue-holidays-absence-highlights-trail-blazers-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/12\/05\/jrue-holidays-absence-highlights-trail-blazers-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Jrue Holiday&#8217;s Absence Highlights the Trail Blazers&#8217; Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holidjr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jrue Holiday<\/a> has not played a game for the Portland Trail Blazers since November 14. Portland has won four games since then, clearly showing that Holiday&#8217;s impact is key to dealing with the Blazers&#8217; issues. It also exposes some of the problems with acting head coach Tiago Splitter&#8217;s system.<\/p>\n<h2>Jrue Holiday&#8217;s Absence Highlights the Trail Blazers&#8217; Issues<\/h2>\n<p>Coming into the 2025-26 NBA season, Blazers fans were <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/10\/blazers-pg-problem-henderson-holiday\/\" target=\"_self\">concerned about the dynamic<\/a> between Jrue Holiday and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hendesc01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scoot Henderson<\/a>. It was a classic case of a decorated veteran guard competing for the same spot as a young star.<\/p>\n<p>A starting spot was up for grabs, but Henderson&#8217;s injury dealt a significant blow to the Blazers&#8217; plans. Initially, Holiday&#8217;s impact was superb, averaging 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Holiday also sustained an injury that has kept him out for the past 11 games. The lack of a true point guard has compounded the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/11\/04\/the-trail-blazers-offense-rears-its-ugly-head-yet-again\/\" target=\"_self\">Blazers&#8217; ailing offense<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>The Blazers&#8217; Issues are Under the Spotlight<\/h3>\n<p>The Blazers are usually a team with good point guard play. From 2012 to 2023, Portland enjoyed having <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lillada01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a> as the lead guard. After he left for two years, the Blazers had Henderson and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/simonan01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anfernee Simons<\/a> as point guards.<\/p>\n<p>Before the 2025-26 season even started, the offense already had some red flags. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/11\/27\/toumani-camara-shooting-struggles-blazers-problem\/\" target=\"_self\">Blazers lacked a sharpshooter<\/a>, which is essential for being a good team today.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Toumani Camara : Season-high 21 points on 7-12 shooting, 6-10 from 3, 1-4 from the FT line &amp; 7 rebounds in 36 minutes <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QYXYt8ofNv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/QYXYt8ofNv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Lee Harvey (@Sayian_Warrior) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Sayian_Warrior\/status\/1996078288209674549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 3, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>To start the year, Holiday&#8217;s skills as a floor general shone, as the offense was quite solid. With his absence, the Blazers are down all of their active point guards. Henderson, Holiday, Lillard, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/weslebl01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Blake Wesley<\/a> are all sidelined with injuries.<\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/avdijde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Deni Avdija<\/a> has done a fantastic job of filling in as the primary point ball-handler and playmaker. The Blazers&#8217; breakout star is averaging 7.7 assists per game while Holiday has been absent. However, he is not a natural floor general who can maximize everyone on the floor.<\/p>\n<h3>Holiday&#8217;s Impact Has Not Gone Unnoticed<\/h3>\n<p>As a veteran, Holiday has experienced almost everything that an NBA player can go through. He has overcome plenty of struggles, but he has also succeeded with two championships to his name.<\/p>\n<p>With that kind of experience, he is a valuable piece for the Blazers. In the past few months, the Blazers have come to respect Holiday&#8217;s leadership. While Lillard is out, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/10\/31\/the-growing-importance-of-veteran-jrue-holidays-blazers-role\/\" target=\"_self\">Holiday is the most respected voice in the lineup<\/a>. Lillard still leads in the locker room, but Holiday was clearly influential.<\/p>\n<p>Offensively, the playmaking and reliable scoring were significant for Portland. Holiday regularly popped up with clutch shots, and he made the right play often.<\/p>\n<p>Defensively, Holiday is still a fantastic matchup for any player. He might be older, but he still matches up well with opposing point guards and even wings. With Holiday&#8217;s impact, the Blazers want him healthy and contributing.<\/p>\n<h3>Splitter&#8217;s System Needs to Improve<\/h3>\n<p>Aside from the lack of a point guard, the coaching staff should improve. While Splitter is taking the job on short notice, he should be more imaginative with his offense.<\/p>\n<p>The Blazers have the talent to execute plays, but they are more reliant on isolation and a drive-and-kick style. Avdija has done well with this, as he can be as physical as he wants to be on drives. <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RCsWrld\/status\/1992310363422122328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1992310363422122328%7Ctwgr%5Ec811e498ab6f69714b1319aeef98cfff3393ce1f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flastwordonsports.com%2Fbasketball%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D168955action%3Deditclassic-editor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sharpe<\/a> is also improving his slashing, but he should also bump his efficiency on non-rim attempts.<\/p>\n<p>To further improve, Splitter should implement more of a movement offense. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/camarto01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toumani Camara<\/a> and Sharpe have shown they can thrive as off-ball movers, something that other Blazers should learn.<\/p>\n<p>Being more imaginative with the offense can help Portland become one of the Western Conference standouts. The numbers do not show it, but they have a high defensive ceiling. If they can execute on both ends of the floor, they could be a dangerous team.<\/p>\n<p>As long as Splitter&#8217;s system can execute, the future is bright. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/10\/31\/the-growing-importance-of-veteran-jrue-holidays-blazers-role\/\" target=\"_self\">Holiday&#8217;s return should be a huge boost<\/a> for Portland, especially when he is rotating with Henderson.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Troy Taormina-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jrue Holiday has not played a game for the Portland Trail Blazers since November 14. Portland has won four games since then, clearly showing that Holiday&#8217;s impact is key to dealing with the Blazers&#8217; issues. It also exposes some of the problems with acting head coach Tiago Splitter&#8217;s system. Jrue Holiday&#8217;s Absence Highlights the Trail [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5385,"featured_media":168960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,23],"tags":[4588,187,2831,239,4702,49155],"class_list":["post-168955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-trailblazers","tag-blake-wesley","tag-damian-lillard","tag-deni-avdija","tag-jrue-holiday","tag-scoot-henderson","tag-toumani-camara"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5385"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168955"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168962,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168955\/revisions\/168962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}