Jrue Holiday: Breaking Down What Holiday Can Learn from Russell Westbrook

Philadelphia 76ers point guard Jrue Holiday could very well be a slightly younger version of Russell Westbrook, and not just because they're both a couple of ex-Bruins.

Like Westbrook, Holiday has great size for a point guard at 6'4" and the athletic ability to become a certified star in this league. Unlike Westbrook, however, Holiday has yet to turn his skills into the same kind of superstar package.

A lot of that has to do with the kind of system in which Holiday finds himself. Doug Collins has built a 76ers team premised on sharing the ball and distributing shots relatively equally between members of an ensemble rotation.

Consequently, Holiday averaged just under 13 field-goal attempts per game this season despite being one of Philly's most talented scorers.

If Collins will let him, Holiday should take a page from Russell Westbrook's playbook and become a more aggressive—if not selfish—scorer.

He did just that Tuesday night against the Chicago Bulls, having a virtually perfect game and propelling Philadelphia to a 109-92 blowout victory. Holiday scored an efficient 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting while also tallying six assists and no turnovers.

The performance was especially good news, because it followed a much less impressive 7-of-18 shooting night in Game 1.

Holiday will need to remain aggressive, and there's no reason he shouldn't be taking the 20 or so shots someone like Westbrook takes on an average night. He may not be an elite scorer yet, but he's the closest thing to one on this 76ers roster.

There's pressure on Holiday to be a distributor given that backup guard Lou Williams is a shoot-first kind of sixth man. Westbrook has certainly received criticism for putting up too many shots, but Philly has to ask itself: Would we rather Andre Iguodala or Evan Turner take those shots?

Probably not, at least on most nights—just as the Thunder aren't eager to see Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka take more mid-range jumpers than they absolutely have to.

Of course, the most important variable isn't necessarily who's taking shots, but what kind of shots guys are taking.

Westbrook is a slightly more efficient shooter, but Holiday's 43 percent is consistent with the numbers the Thunder point guard put up earlier in his career.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks has freed Westbrook to look for his shot fairly liberally, and the results have been a more comfortable guard doing what he does best.

The same kind of freedom could do wonders for Holiday, and it could do wonders for Doug Collins' team. Holiday needs to improve his mid-range game and become a more powerful finisher (two developments that aided Westbrook's game), but those things should come in time.

Holiday is still just 21 years old and only beginning to uncover his offensive ability.

He could very well be the next ex-Bruin to become a superstar scorer at the point.