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Danny Granger is the NBA's Most Improved Player
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Granger MIP? (Photo by AP)
The NBA has yet to announce the winner of the award but if you ask me, I'd tell you it's hands down. There have been a lot of players who have stepped their games up this season significantly like Kevin Durant, Brandon Roy, Devin Harris and Aaron Brooks just to name a few but none of them comes close to how Granger has made his name known this past season.
To almost everyone who have seen Danny Granger play night in and night out this is a no brainer. Granger deserves to be called this season's Most Improved player. The dilemma Granger faces however is that not a lot of people have seen the Pacers play this year especially on a consistent basis. You can see his name in the post-game reports and the box scores but to actually see how Granger has taken over the Pacers this year and elevated his game to new heights is truly remarkable.
Pacers teammate Jarrett Jack described his first season playing with Danny Granger as eye-opening.
"If he does win the award, it's well-deserved. He's not one of these guys that just has things given to him. He really opened my eyes this year. I didn't know the type of player he was but he's definitely elevated his level of play."
Granger's closest rival for the award would have to be New Jersey's Devin Harris. Not to take anything away from Harris, but personally I'd have a harder time justifying why Harris should win the award over Granger than the other way around. Let's take a closer look and really examine what both players have done this year.
Devin Harris (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
STATS
Granger averaged 25.8 points per game (5th best in the league), 5.10 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.03 assists and 1.45 steals.
Harris averages 21.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.65 steals, 0.19 blocks per.
Advantage: Granger
Aside from the assists department, Granger has better stats than Harris. On top of that Granger is also assigned to guard the opposing team's best player almost on a nightly basis. Both players sat out almost the same amount of games although Harris did have some issues with his coach for a little while back in the first half of the season causing him to miss some games. Granger on the other hand has been nothing less than a model citizen and a coach's dream. Granger has done a lot of work for the community and even visited Asia in the preseason to promote the NBA.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND VALUE
Both players' teams will miss this season's playoffs but if not for either of their improvements this year, their teams would definitely have done worse. Granger has a slight edge on wins and the way the Pacers have performed because they are always in games as evidenced by the Pacers being the team with the most games decided within 3 points or less. Both players also made it to the All-Star game for the first time this season and have been clutch for their teams all year long. The Nets though still have Vince Carter as their main option and leader on the other hand Granger almost the Pacers' only option in the end. Despite being played tight and seeing double teams for majority of the year, Granger still puts up big numbers and hits the big shorts. With all the said however, I will still have to lean towards Granger on this category.
Advantage: Granger
INTANGIBLES
Granger has really evolved into a complete player this season. His leadership, offense, defense and confidence have really gone to a different level. Also, in an incident against the Toronto Raptors this year, Raptors' All-Star Chris Bosh had some choice words to say to Pacers' rookie Brandon Rush. Granger immediately stepped in like the leader of a pack of lions to protect his teammates and shoved Bosh away while retaliating with some fighting words himself. Knowing the kind of person Granger is and how he has been the past seasons, it was almost unbelievable to see Granger get up on somebody's face like that but at the same time it also shows how he has really developed into the leader of this Pacers team. Honestly, I enjoyed seeing Granger do that knowing that there must've been something the other team did to really irk him like that as Granger is a soft-spoken dude and doesn't get into a lot of altercations at all.
Harris has also stepped up in the leadership role with the Nets but his issues with his coach Lawrence Frank when he got suspended together with the way he went to the media about it just leaves a lot to be desired in terms of his maturity an overall leadership skills. Granted this isn't the MVP award, but still, little things like that can tip the scale on the other end.
Advantage: Granger
Regardless if Granger wins the award or not doesn't take away from what he has done all year long. As a Pacers fan, it's refreshing to see the new face of the franchise evolve right before your eyes. A lot of players claim they are leaders but Granger really does a lot of his talking with his actions. All year long he has played hurt with a bad knee and never let up on any play whether it was chasing an offensive player down on the break for a sensational block or be it crashing the boards or diving into the stands to save the ball. If not for some key injuries to a lot of players, the Pacers could've really easily been in this years playoffs but at least knowing that Granger will be a Pacers for a long time to come gives fans reason to be optimistic about the future.
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