Jon Robert Holden

Jon-Robert Holden
Джон Ро́берт Хо́лден
Personal information
Born (1976-08-10) August 10, 1976
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Nationality American / Russian
Listed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school Wilkinsburg (Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania)
Linsly School (Wheeling, West Virginia)
College Bucknell (1994–1998)
NBA draft 1998 / Undrafted
Playing career 1998–2011
Position Point guard / Shooting guard
Number 10
Career history
1998–1999 ASK Brocēni
1999–2001 Telindus Oostende
2001–2002 AEK
2002–2011 CSKA Moscow
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Representing  Russia
FIBA EuroBasket
2007 Spain Russia

Jon Robert "J.R." Holden (born August 10, 1976) (in Russian: Джон Ро́берт Хо́лден) is a retired American-Russian professional basketball player, currently serving as an NBA scout for the Detroit Pistons. Holden was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At 1.85 m (6'1") tall, he could play at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, but he primarily played at point guard.

As a member of CSKA Moscow, Holden won two Euroleague titles in 2006 and 2008. Moreover, he reached eight consecutive Euroleague Final Four tournaments, a record he shares with his former CSKA teammate Theo Papaloukas. His consistency at the highest level of European basketball earned him a selection in the Euroleague 2001-2010 All-Decade Team.

He was also a member of the senior men's Russian national basketball team, which he helped lead to the FIBA EuroBasket title in 2007, Russia's first ever gold medal. His buzzer beater to beat heavily favored Spain in the final of the tournament, is one of the highlights in European basketball history.

College career

Holden played NCAA Division I college basketball at Bucknell University with the Bucknell Bison, from 1994 to 1998.

Professional career

After graduation from Bucknell, holden received a call from the basketball club ASK/Brocēni/LMT, located in Riga, Latvia, offering him $3,000 net income a month to join their team. He accepted, and began a long and very successful career in European basketball.[1]

Holden played for teams in: the Latvian League (ASK/Brocēni/LMT 1998-99), the Belgian League (Telindus Oostende 1999-01), the Greek A1 League (AEK Athens 2001-02) and the Russian Superleague A (CSKA Moscow 2002–2011).[2] He won national championships in each country. He was named the 2003 Russian Superleague A Player of the Year. He earned an Import Players Honorable Mention in the 2002 Eurobasket.com All-Europe Rankings.[3] Holden has won the Euroleague 2005–06 and the Euroleague 2007–08 season championships with CSKA.

Holden started for CSKA Moscow against the Philadelphia 76ers in an exhibition game in October 2006, in Cologne, Germany as part of the EA Sports NBA Europe Live 2006 promotional event.[4]

Russian national team

Holden's biggest achievement came in the FIBA EuroBasket 2007 final game against Spain, where he scored the winning shot that gave Russia the championship. He scored the final winning basket with 2 seconds left in the game. He was also named to the Russian squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics men's basketball tournament.

Personal

On October 20, 2003, Holden became a Russian citizen by decree of President Vladimir Putin. This move was brought about by new Russian Basketball Federation regulations restricting the number of foreigners, and specifically Americans allowable on Russian League teams. In response to the move, CSKA Basketball CEO Sergei Kushchenko hatched the idea of Holden acquiring citizenship. Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov and the Russian State Sports Committee both wrote letters in support of the decree. Holden currently maintains dual American and Russian citizenship.[1]

When giving an interview to mvp.rs, Holden stated that Dušan Ivković is one of the best coaches ever.[5]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

† Denotes seasons in which Holden's team won the Euroleague

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2001–02 AEK 20 19 35.7 .362 .302 .616 2.4 2.8 1.4 .0 17.2 12.3
2002–03 CSKA 22 20 33.4 .395 .356 .638 2.2 4.4 1.7 .0 15.5 13.5
2003–04 CSKA 22 22 33.3 .393 .312 .563 2.3 3.8 1.2 .1 14.2 10.2
2004–05 CSKA 24 24 31.0 .363 .297 .847 2.2 2.8 1.1 .0 11.3 8.8
2005–06† CSKA 24 23 31.3 .416 .336 .642 1.6 2.0 1.4 .0 11.4 9.1
2006–07 CSKA 25 22 29.9 .433 .366 .667 2.3 2.3 1.2 .0 10.0 8.9
2007–08† CSKA 25 25 28.4 .376 .367 .741 2.0 3.0 1.1 .0 7.7 7.6
2008–09 CSKA 16 15 29.4 .393 .380 .792 2.0 3.4 .8 .0 7.9 7.9
2009–10 CSKA 21 5 30.9 .352 .358 .905 1.8 1.8 1.1 .0 10.3 6.2
2010–11 CSKA 10 8 29.7 .264 .295 .500 1.9 3.4 .5 .0 6.4 2.6
Career 209 183 31.4 .381 .335 .674 2.1 2.9 1.2 .0 11.4 9.0

Honours

FIBA EuroBasket: 2007

Latvian League: 1999

Belgian League: 2001

Belgian Cup: 2001

Greek League: 2002

Russian League: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

Russian Cup: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010

Euroleague: 2006, 2008

Notes

  1. 1 2 Former Bison Hoops Star J.R. Holden Thriving in Russia :: Standout point guard given Russian citizenship.
  2. ↑ EuroBasket 2005 Player Profile.
  3. ↑ Eurobasket.com - 2002 Eurobasket All-Europe Rankings.
  4. ↑ Koelnarena.
  5. ↑ MVP.rs JR Holden za MVP: Želeo sam da igram za Partizan.
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