For all of the hoopla about Ron Holland’s shooting, he is leaving meat on the bone elsewhere. Yes, his jumper needs work, and he’s tirelessly working on it. His free-throw percentage suggests there is some touch there (80% on 2 FTA). But Holland can be more dynamic at the rim.
With Holland’s physical profile (lean 6’8, 6’11 wingspan) and tenacious, bred-for-combat demeanor, there’s no reason he should be a 44th percentile finisher amongst forwards. Holland’s aggressiveness works against him at times,
but picking his spots would maximize an ability that could be his offensive calling card.
Ron Holland is better than a mid-tier finisher
Here’s where Holland ranked among Pistons finishers with garbage time removed last season:
Kevin Huerter: 78% (93rd %tile — wings)
Isaiah Stewart: 76% (88th %tile — bigs)
Paul Reed: 75% (86th %tile — bigs)
Duncan Robinson: 71% (78th %tile — wings)
Jalen Duren: 73% (76th %tile — bigs)
Ausar Thompson: 67% (58th %tile — wings)
Cade Cunningham: 63% (46th %tile — point)
Ron Holland: 65% (44th %tile — forwards)
Caris LeVert: 61% (27th %tile — wings)
Tobias Harris: 59% (23rd %tile — forwards)
Javonte Green: 60% (22nd %tile — wings)
Daniss Jenkins: 55% (22nd %tile — combos)
This was ranked by position percentile because how you stack up with your archetype around the league has relevance.
There’s no chance one would guess Holland was the eighth-best finisher in Detroit relative to his position given the reputation he carries. And for good reason. When you see his SportsCenter Top-10 caliber finishes, you’d probably believe that’s just another day in the office.
When Holland is on, his plus-wingspan and bounce have major splash-play potential. Holland shifts momentum with crowd-roaring slams.
Holland immediately attacks off the catch, slithers by his defender, and gets a one-on-none finish at the rim. Non-rim protectors won’t consider jumping with him, even though their coach will ring them out for lack of effort.
Sometimes, it doesn’t even matter who jumps with him at the rim when it’s mano a mano. Holland two-hand stuffs this over a center. Holland will attempt these murders with anyone in the paint.
Holland’s stern belief that he cannot be stopped by David’s or Goliath’s at the rim makes for good body bags, but it looks a little different when those all-gas, no-break rim attempts devolve into missed lays.
He went at three Thunder players here. Going into two or three keeps him from being a tier-one finisher like his traits suggest he should be. But the secondary follow up shows that dog and why he attempts so many tough lays.
The hustle man is the man without fear. He’ll try any type of layup when he feels he has a step on the defense.
These high off-the-glass lefty attempts get commended for the effort, but these shots, especially the second one, are of the greatest difficulty. With more control, Holland would bring some of these out or swing it after he collapses the defense.
He didn’t have numbers here (no great angle to get it to Ausar), but bringing it out and resetting isn’t a crime. Usually, there is no need to reset in transition, and Holland’s finishing there is as good as advertised.
Holland’s off-hand works just fine when he’s under control. He takes Anthony Davis’ bump and goes right over one of the best defenders to never win a Defensive Player of the Year award.
These are the types of finishes Holland can take and make on the regular. He should be knocking on 70 percent at the rim with his bunnies, burst, and boldness.
That would put him in line with forwards like OG Anunoby, Jalen Johnson, and Scottie Barnes. Holland can be as dynamic as them when he assesses when to take on two and when to get off of it because he got downhill and collapsed the defense.
An argument can be made that more spacing in itself will aid Holland’s finishing. There may be less of a 2000s packed lane in lineups with Isaiah Joe, Huerter, John Collins, and others on the floor. Holland can get more chances to attack one guy, and we know what he does there.
Holland’s improving handle will help his finishing, and being more of a threat from 3 would force closeouts he can attack. Picking his spots could help him level up in what should be an elite trait of his.
The shooting and playmaking are obvious areas Holland needs to grow in to maximize his talent. Defensively, he is already a premier perimeter chaos-causer and told Eric Vincenthe wants to snag an all-defense selection this year.
While his on-ball defense is his superpower, his finishing should be right behind it. With Detroit’s shooting additions, Holland can help make a potent second-string offense if he’s finishing everything left and right. Before the shooting comes around, a finishing leap would change Holland’s offensive outlook.
Stats via Cleaning The Glass, NBA.com, and CraftedNBA
