Hawks Coach Dishes Out High Praise For Celtics Guard

BOSTON — Jrue Holiday was just in his second season in the NBA when he crossed paths with Quin Snyder.

Snyder was a player development coach with the 76ers during the 2010-11 season while Holiday, who Philadelphia selected with the 17th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, was just getting his pro career established.

Holiday took off in the lone season that Snyder was with 76ers with the guard vying for the Most Improved Player award after starting all 82 games for Philadelphia and averaging 14 points, 6.5 assists and four rebounds.

Holiday continued his upward trajectory after that, becoming a two-time All-Star, perennial All-Defensive player and an NBA champion. Snyder certainly took notice of Holiday’s rise and dished out a very strong heaping of praise for him prior to the Celtics hosting the Atlanta Hawks at TD Garden on Wednesday night.

“I’ve known Jrue since he was 19 in Philly,” Snyder said. “It’s been fun to see his evolution as a player. And consistently wherever he’s been, he’s been a great teammate, he’s defended, he’s super efficient offensively and I think he makes every team he’s on better.”

Snyder’s description of Holiday has played out during his first season with the Celtics. Holiday hasn’t played outside his role alongside Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, scoring 13.1 points per game on 46.3 shooting from the field and knocking down 42.3% of his 3-point attempts. Holiday is also averaging a career-best six rebounds per game and doling out 4.6 assists while creating a formidable defensive pairing with Derrick White.

Holiday didn’t get the chance to play against his former coach. Holiday missed the matchup due to a right elbow sprain, but Celtics head coach doesn’t expect the injury to be a long-term issue for the 33-year-old guard.