Inside the Sixers: Sixers can build around Holiday

Before considering the next layer of the building, the 76ers must determine the quality of their foundation.

If the franchise heaps a second story of bricks and mortar atop a shaky ground level - a practice it has nearly perfected - this whole thing will crumble before it even reaches a noticeable height.

That foundation is, in large part, secured around the talents of point guard Jrue Holiday.

He's the 20-year-old with limitless potential - with potential meaning, of course, that he's not good enough yet.

He's the guy who could become the weight-bearing pillar of a building the size and strength of which is yet to be determined.

Or he could become just another disappointing talent on a roster already burdened with too many of those.

Here we are, exactly 20 games into the 2010-11 NBA season. We're exactly a quarter of the way through what was touted as Holiday's breakout season, a year in which he'd prove himself one of the league's top five point guards.

That was a little far-fetched.

But the question remains: Should the Sixers still build around Holiday?

The answer is yes. They should.

The numbers might not make you run out and get Holiday's jersey - 13.2 points, 6.9 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 2.8 turnovers, and 1.5 steals a game - but there's plenty of analysis explaining some of this kid's ups and downs.

Let's dive in.

Last week, the Sixers hosted the Portland Trail Blazers, home of former Sixers point guard Andre Miller. Miller, who still runs a team with patience and confidence, provided an easy standard against which to measure Holiday, who runs a team with youth and wavering self-assurance.

In watching Holiday, a handful of in-game nuisances come to the forefront: Holiday's defense, his ability to start the break, his play in crunch time, and what all of this might mean for the future.

Holiday's defense earned him minutes during his rookie season. His defense has not been as good this season. There's no difference in his foot speed or his inherent balance, both of which are quite amazing, but there does seem to be a difference in his focus. Last season, nothing mattered during his minutes except dogging another team's guard. This season, success for Holiday is measured in quite a different way. Holiday seems to have developed a habit of running alongside the guard he's attempting to press, which is about as effective as running alongside a bus.

At whatever moment the bus desires, it just punches the gas and goes by you.

The coaching staff is attempting to break Holiday of this habit, forcing him to position himself in front of his man and work harder to create that pocket of space that allows him to keep better position.

It's not a terribly difficult fix, and Holiday has the physical tools - and more important, the desire - to execute the strategy.

Miller is a master at taking the outlet pass. The transition from rebounder to point guard, when Miller is running a team, is virtually seamless. He spaces wide for the outlet pass when working with a teammate capable of assessing the circumstances and making the pass, and he returns for the ball when he senses that is the more effective option.

None of that exists right now with Holiday. And none of that exists with the Sixers. We haven't seen an overhead outlet pass from big man to point guard since Miller was here. Holiday tends to dart back to the rebounder, often taking a handoff. Or he catches near the hash mark, his momentum often leaning the wrong way.

There are reasons for that.

First, the Sixers gang-rebound: They send all five to the defensive boards, and even that isn't enough. They don't have the luxury of letting Holiday roam the perimeter looking for the best outlet space. Second, the outlet pass is one of the more fluid exchanges in basketball, demanding confidence and rhythm.

The Sixers have neither.

After corralling a rebound, the Sixers' big men treat the ball as if it's made of crystal, waiting for Holiday to come back so they can safely transfer possession and then together begin the journey upcourt.

None of this reflects poorly on Holiday. Once the team finds itself some big-time rebounders, a search Rod Thorn and Ed Stefanski should consider paramount, Holiday will be allowed to dance the sidelines waiting for the fastbreak push.

Perhaps the most worrisome of all the gathered evidence is Holiday's repeated mistakes at game's end. He's tried so hard, yet made so many, that at the end of Friday night's loss to the Atlanta Hawks he looked as if he'd excused himself from the dinner table and was heading to bed early.

Sixers fans can probably recall at least a half-dozen important miscues, either turnovers or silly fouls, that Holiday has committed through the first quarter of the season.

Essentially, Holiday is trying to create winning plays for a group of players who don't know how to win, who don't really understand time and score - with the exception of Andre Iguodala - and who seem to play the game at one pace until the buzzer sounds, at which point they look at the scoreboard to see if they won.

Holiday needs one successful end-of-game possession. He needs that one moment in which he exhibits patience and confidence and then, finally, succeeds.

There are many problems with the Sixers. There are many flaws and many concerns.

Holiday isn't one of them.

Read Kate Fagan's 76ers blog, "Deep Sixer," at http://go.philly.com/dsix.

Subject: 76ers find a way to lose.

Cychobabbler

Too many bad drafts (going back DECADES) and roster decisions to fix until Brand's contract expires. Hopefully, Coach Collins will have free rein to draft someone other than the current game plan of getting tall hybrid forwards or shooting guards masquerading as point guards.

Want a better 76ers team? Draft a center who can rebound, score in the paint, and pass. Build a team around him and stick a consistently decent scoring threat on the bench willing to be the sixth man.