I was really happy for how well Malcolm Brogdon was playing this year, it was great to see him in a more expansive role than what he would’ve had on the Bucks, and it was a joy to see him put up such huge numbers. But given new things that have come to light, I may be forced to conclude that he was nothing but a “system player”. That is, the system he was in was the real driver behind his gaudy stats, rather than a surplus of basketball skill. Because Aaron Holiday just came in and did the exact same things that Brogdon was doing, and he’s just a random young role-player PG, not some sort of stat-stuffing monster.
It’s possible, I guess, that both Brogdon and Holiday are total PG studs that are cruelly cannibalizing minutes and opportunities from each other. That would be unlikely, but possible. I prefer the idea that McMillan’s pick-and-roll-heavy system inflates assist totals for the ball-handler, because it allows me to pretend that I actually know something about how a team plays instead of just wildly speculating.
But don’t let that get in the way of your enjoyment of this video. This is, system player or no system player, one of the sickest performances of the year in my opinion. He’s never gotten close to this many points, or close to this many assists. There have been only 6 other games this season where a player got 24 or more points and 13 or more assists. The names are impressive: LeBron, Harden, Doncic, Trae, and Westbrook. That is the company Holiday finds himself in now.