Jrue Holiday: 3 Reasons Why Philadelphia 76ers Guard Will Keep Up Scoring Streak

It's no secret that the Philadelphia 76ers are in desperate need of a dominant scorer.

The Sixers have assembled a collection of players who excel within their roles, and that's about it. Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Elton Brand and Spencer Hawes fill necessary roles, and they do so effectively, playing strong defense and sharing the ball.

However, this Sixers team still lacks the one thing that is prized the most in today's NBA—a night in, night out scoring threat who will always keep the team in the game.

While the Sixers front office parted ways with this concept in 2006 when they traded Allen Iverson, it may be time that the team found a legitimate 20 points per night scoring threat.

I'm arguing that the scorer they need may already be on their roster.

Direct your attention to Sixers guard, Jrue Holiday.

Ever since Evan Turner was inserted into the starting lineup two weeks ago, a strange trend has cropped up.

In his last five games, Holiday averages 16.4 points per game, up five points from his career average. In addition, Holiday is also averaging 15.6 field goal attempts per contest over his last five, as opposed to his usual 13.

In a poor team showing against the Chicago Bulls this past Saturday, Holiday actually became the first Sixer to score 30 points in a game this season.

Then, on Monday night, he proceeded to drop 20 on the Bobcats on 8-of-13 shooting.

While this may seem like a momentary change, I'm looking for this to become permanent.

Here are three reasons why.

Increased Play off the Ball

While Jrue Holiday was drafted to be the Sixers' point guard of the future, and Evan Turner was selected as the shooting guard of the future, they seem to be exchanging roles.

Turner's emergence and increased statistical output have been helped by the fact that Doug Collins has made him the team's new point guard.

Without the ball in his hands, Turner is rendered almost useless. What Collins discovered is that if Turner continues to crash the boards and run the floor, he is quite capable of turning good defense into quick points on the other end.

For Holiday, this has meant increased play off the ball, something that he grew accustomed to at UCLA.

Holiday is now running off screens, taking open jump shots and showing that he's not afraid to be this team's primary scoring option.

So far, so good. If Holiday continues to improve his stroke from outside he could become one of the league's better scoring guards.

Encouragement from Coach Doug Collins

Doug Collins made the switch with Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday because he knew what his backcourt of the future could become if they both played to the fullest of their abilities.

He knows that Holiday is more of a pure shooter, and that Turner is a more natural ball handler.

Although many knocked Holiday earlier this season for his inability to score, Collins made it quite clear who he wants shooting the ball early and often.

According to Philly.com, Collins was quoted as saying:

"

We need Jrue to be more aggressive and looking to score the ball early," Collins said Sunday. "He needs to score for our team. I don't want there to be any indecision about what he needs to do for our team.

"

If the Sixers want to make a run deep into the playoffs this year, they will need all Holiday has to offer on the offensive end, and Collins knows it.

Turner Relieves the Pressure

Before this season began, fans were eager to see how Jrue Holiday would mature as a point guard.

Now, that Evan Turner has become this team's point guard of the future, Holiday no longer has to feel the pressure of becoming the next great Philadelphia floor general.

In his new role, Holiday will feel at ease, focusing on scoring, and not battling between sharing the ball and scoring it.

Expect to see a more confident Jrue Holiday in the coming weeks. As we head down the home stretch, no player will be more important to this Sixers squad than Holiday.