In the NBA there are a lot of players who play very hard, they train hard, let themselves play a good performance, but there are not so many players who can continue this upward trend, many players fall from the peak period quickly because of unexpected injuries, the protagonist of this article, Danny Granger, is such a player, he has been improving since entering the NBA, after becoming the leader of the team, he also led the team to achieve some results, and at this time, Granger was knocked down by a sudden injury. The performance quickly declined, the bright future was gone, the ability was not strong, and slowly withdrew from the NBA, this article will talk about Danny Granger.
Defensively robust and skilled small forwards
Granger is 2.03 meters tall, which is a standard small forward height, in terms of arm span, Granger's arm span is excellent, although the arms are not over the knee, but also longer than many people's arms, in terms of physical condition, Granger is very good, is a very large small forward. Granger is big, but does not lose flexibility, defense is both confrontational, but also able to keep up with the pace of the opponent, solid defensive skills, stable defensive performance, whether against the top small forwards or general small forwards, Granger will play his performance, in terms of defense, Granger's performance is very stable.
Defense is the root of Granger's foothold on the court, and scoring is the way to make him go to the star, Granger's main way of scoring is three-pointer, as early as college, Granger's three-point ability is very strong, is an excellent shooter, after coming to the NBA, Granger's projection ability is not discounted by the NBA's high-intensity defense, three-point performance is still very good, in the second season reached 38.2% shooting rate, became a precise shooter.
Granger's defense is very stable, his style of play is also very stable, his no ball running, the position is not ghostly, the routine is relatively fixed, Granger is naturally very familiar with this routine, when the opportunity arises, Granger can grasp it, which is a benefit, but the disadvantage is that the opponent is also better predictable, can make targeted arrangements.
Overall, Granger is a big, solid defense, steady style of the front shooter on the court, he can not bring the team a flowing style of the ball, but he can bring a solid improvement to the team, in today's words is a good 3D star, the Pacers are under the leadership of Granger, from the trough, to a small peak, next, talk about Granger's NBA career.
The rookie season is just beginning
Granger was selected by the Pacers with the No. 17 pick in the 2005 draft, when Granger was 22 years old, and for those rookies who entered the NBA at the age of 18 or 19, Granger's potential is not as good as theirs, but it is better, and after adapting for a while, Granger shows his ability in the NBA.
In the game against New York, Granger felt hot, contributing 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks, which was Granger's first double-double in the NBA, back-to-back the next day, Granger contributed 16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 1 assist to help the team beat the opponent by 22 points, after which Granger played a period of substitution and then entered the starting lineup.
After entering the starting lineup, he had more opportunities, in the game against the Cavaliers, Granger became the core of the team, played 41 minutes, played against James, contributed 21 points, 14 rebounds, assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal, leaving the suspense of the game to the end, but because the strength gap was too large, the Pacers lost to the Cavaliers by 4 points, but it is worth mentioning that this is Granger's first 20+ double-double in the NBA, Granger improved in the game, the more he played, the more he played, the performance of 20+ points is not difficult.
At the end of the season, Granger averaged 7.5 points from 6.1 shots per game, 46.2 percent from the field, 32.3 percent from three-point range, 77.7 percent from the free throws, and 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists. As a rookie, this performance was good, and Granger was named to the all-rookie team second team.
Through Granger's performance in the rookie season, people can see that Granger is a player with strong learning ability, he has improved rapidly, and in the next few seasons, Granger has proved himself to be a player with strong learning ability and fast progress.
Keep improving and become an All-Star
Granger's three-point performance in the rookie season is not good, below his level, because the NBA's defensive intensity is high, Granger is not adaptable for a while, in the offseason, Granger increased his training intensity, so that his rhythm matched the NBA's defensive intensity.
Granger's training is effective, based on his performance in the NBA, after the start of the 06-07 season, Granger's three-point shooting performance is very good, against the Bulls, Granger three-point shooting 6 of 5, against the Raptors, Granger three-point shooting 4, the end of the season, Granger's three-point shooting rate has improved to 38.2%, an improvement of 5.9% over last season. The average number of three-pointers per game also increased from 0.4 to 1.3, Granger played the level of three-pointers he should have, Granger three-point shot accurately, his score is naturally higher, the average score per game rose to 13.9 points.
Granger shoots the three-pointer accurately, he also has a good means of scoring, granger's next step is to constantly polish his skills, improve his performance, and this requires the team to give support, give time, give the ball, so, the Pacers support Granger? The answer, of course, is yes.
Because the Pacers at this time, in a state of decline, in the 2005-06 season, they still have a 50% win rate, and by the 06-07 season, the Pacers' winning rate has exceeded 50%, and the older generation of players in the team have also begun to decline, it is difficult to be a big responsibility, there is a need for a player in the rising period to inject fresh blood into the Pacers, give the team a hope of rising, Granger is this player, the Pacers have given Granger a lot of opportunities, Granger's performance is also climbing.
In the 07-08 season, Granger averaged 19.6 points per game, a career high, and in the 08-09 season, the Pacers did not have a better offensive strength, the Pacers gave Granger a lot of shooting rights, Granger opened his arms, showed his scoring ability, the first game of the new season, Granger cut 33 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 blocks, but unfortunately failed to lead a victory for the team.
In the opening week, Gran distinguished 6 games, scored no less than 20, brought 3 wins for the team, in the following games, Granger did not lose firepower, facing the Pistons, he cut 42 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, against the Warriors, Granger cut another 42 points, but in these two games, the Pacers lost, again facing the Warriors, Granger contributed 41 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal, this time, the Pacers won. Throughout the season, Gran distinguished played 62 games, a total of 23 games 30+, 53 games 20+, this offensive performance is very good, in the All-Star vote, Granger was selected, played all-star, played 10 minutes, selected as an All-Star, making Granger also a star.
At the end of the season, Granger's average data was fixed at 25.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1 steal, 1.4 blocks, and the three-point shooting rate was 40.4%, while last season, Granger's average data was 19.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, Granger improved a lot, in the most improved player selection, Granger pressed Devon Harris and Durant to win the Most Improved Player Award, when Granger was 25 years old, still very young, and had a lot of room to rise. His next task is to maintain his excellent performance and wait for the rise of his teammates around him.
Granger completed this task, 09-10 season, Granger averaged 24.1 points, 2.8 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, the performance is still good, 10-11 season, the Pacers can play more people, Granger began to give up some of the right to shoot, distributed to teammates, the overall strength of the Pacers began to get stronger. In the 2011-12 season, Granger continued to delegate power, paul George, Collison, Hibbert, David West and others, became the fulcrum of the Pacers, and the Pacers began the new season in a state of national soldiers.
After the team can play more people, the Pacers are indeed much stronger, their offense is more outstanding, under the tutelage of Vogel, their defense is more tenacious, the Pacers have become a force that cannot be ignored in the East, at the end of the season, Granger averaged 18.7 points, 5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1 steal per game, the Pacers achieved a record of 42 wins and 24 losses, successfully entered the playoffs, and got the opportunity to play against strong teams, and this time playing against strong teams is also Granger's last peak in the NBA.
Led the team to six major battles with the Heat Big Three
In the first round of the 2012 playoffs, the Pacers faced the Magic, the first two games of the series, Granger played badly, the shooting rate was low, the Pacers won one win and one loss in these two games, the third game, Granger's state picked up, 16 shots 9, contributed 26 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, helped the Pacers win the Magic, won the advantage, the fourth game, Granger contributed 21 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block, helped the Pacers win by 2 points, got the match point, life and death battle, Granger felt good, three-point shot was very accurate, The rest of the Pacers also erupted, with the Pacers knocking the Magic down with a wave of offensive climax, winning the Magic by 18 points to advance to the next round by a big score of 4-1.
In the second round, the Pacers faced the Heat, this Heat is really strong, led by the Big Three James, Wade, Bosh, all three are All-Star regulars, and a group of very good jigsaw puzzle players, in contrast, the Pacers are very shabby, the Pacers all-team players are not as good as the Heat Big Three, but the basketball game is not a card, fame can not determine victory, in the opposite position, the Pacers have the advantage, their big center Hibert, the Heat is not easy to solve, so, as long as you play seriously, Still able to play with the Heat.
In the first game of the series, the Pacers lost, Granger played badly, the second game, Granger's state picked up, the Pacers won by 3 points, the third game, Granger was in good shape, contributing 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal, helping the Pacers win the Heat and get the advantage, in the fourth game, Granger contributed 20 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, but unfortunately, the Pacers lost, and the series entered the Battle of Tianwangshan.
The battle of King Mountain is very important, the game just started, the gunpowder smell of the two sides rose, Granger and James constantly confronted, the conflict seemed to be about to happen at any time, in an attack, Grange outstanding hand three points, James pounced, Granger landed, the foot fell on James's feet, did not dare to stand up, and finally sat on the electric car and left the court, this game should have been a big battle, but because Granger's injury exited, the game lost suspense, the Pacers defeated the Heat by 32 points, Fell into the situation of losing and going home.
In the sixth game, Granger came out with an injury, but the foot injury still gave him a big impact, so that Granger could not play his full strength, only contributed 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, so that the Pacers did not lose to the Heat, but also did not help the Pacers win, the Pacers were still eliminated.
The Pacers lost, but people have great respect for the Pacers, because their grassroots players, using their only small advantages, fought with the Heat, let the Heat play very unhappily, paid a lot of effort to win them, the Pacers' future is bright, but the injured Granger, the future is not bright, he is entangled in injuries.
Lost to injuries and withdrew bleakly
After an offseason recuperation, Granger's ankle problem is not very big, he began to play for the Pacers in the 2012-13 season, Granger just played 5 games for the Pacers, he left the field due to left knee pain, he left the treatment, but the treatment was not good, Granger had no choice but to operate, suffered the cost of season reimbursement, this year Granger is only 29 years old, it is experienced enough, the body is also very good, when he can produce results, Granger is injured, which hit Granger hard, And that's not all.
In the preseason of the 13-14 season, Granger was injured again, after a break, Granger returned to the game, played 29 games, Granger was injured again, the injury knocked Granger down completely, the Pacers gave him up, sent him to the Clippers, the Clippers changed hands to send Granger to the Heat, the Heat gave Granger a chance, but the Heat were not satisfied with Granger's performance, and sent him to the Suns, the Suns did not give Granger a chance, directly cut Granger.
After being turned back and forth like a commodity a few times, Granger's heart was cold, he knew that his body was not good, it was impossible to play in the NBA, he chose to retire, ended his short NBA career, and plunged into a new life with regrets.
Write at the end
Granger is a very capable player who led the Pacers out of the trough and ushered in the light, but at this time, his absence due to injury is a pity, and the Pacers, after sending Granger away, also fell apart due to the chaos in the dressing room, an injury that ruined Granger and the Pacers. Now, Granger is 38 years old, it is a good time in life, may he live a happy life and all the best.