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Sunday, February 15, 2009
Good to Great in a Flash
By Rick Wright
Of the Journal
Danny Granger, Zen master? Not as far as I know.
Still, if that were true, it might explain the almost explicable: how Granger, the former Lobo and the current Indiana Pacer, has gone from marginal NBA prospect to NBA All-Star in a span of six years.
Talent and work ethic aside, there's got to be a mind-over-matter quotient here. In basketball, no one, or almost no one, improves that dramatically.
Yet, Granger did.
When I first saw Granger practice with the Lobos while sitting out his transfer year in January 2003, it was clear enough he'd be an outstanding player at the Mountain West Conference level. He was a lean and springy 6-foot-9, had a knack for scoring inside, a decent 15-foot jumper, court intelligence, a hunger for victory — even in an intrasquad scrimmage.
But, a future NBA All-Star? That, I didn't see — even as Granger earned first-team all-Mountain West honors in his junior year.
No, I'm not an NBA scout; still, Granger's numbers here as a junior, as well as his statistics during his two previous seasons at Bradley, support those early impressions.
At Bradley, Granger was a power forward who lived inside the 3-point line. In 43 games, he attempted 37 3-pointers and made only nine. Even during his abbreviated first season at New Mexico, he shot just 33.3 percent (24-of-72) from beyond the arc.
His game had other weaknesses, too. He handled the ball well enough for a 6-9 college power forward, but not so well for a future NBA small forward. He had trouble guarding and being guarded by smaller, quicker players.
Yet, as startling as has been Granger's progress in the NBA, his improvement from year to year at UNM was no less so. Every facet of his game, even his obvious strengths, became stronger.
As a senior, in the absence of a true point guard, Granger became the Lobos' point forward. As a sophomore at Bradley, he had 16 assists all season. As a senior at UNM, he ranked third on the team with 71.
Troy DeVries, the Lobos' most accurate 3-point shooter of all time — well, until Chad Toppert came along — made a team-best 45.1 percent of his 3s that season. Granger was right behind at 43.3.
Big men, he took outside; little guys, he overpowered. He became, as noted at the time, the most complete basketball player I'd seen wear a Lobo uniform.
Remember, too, that he led the Lobos to an MWC tournament title and an NCAA berth in 2005 despite a meniscus tear that cost him three conference games.
Back to the mind-over-matter theme: By season's end, no one watching Granger, trying to guard him or being guarded by him would have known the torn meniscus ever happened. Yet, a few months later, the Pacers withdrew him from summer-league play because of soreness in that knee.
Granger has credited former UNM coach Ritchie McKay and his staff with helping him expand his game outward and achieve the necessary skills to become a top NBA prospect as a small forward. Still, though his status as a first-round pick entering the 2005 draft seemed secure, most projected him as an eventual sixth-man/role player — not as a future All-Star who, in his fourth season, would be averaging 25 points a game, hitting 40 percent of his 3s and making almost 90 percent of his free throws.
"Doesn't have a crazy amount of star potential," one online scout wrote. "His ceiling isn't that of an all-star. ..."
That guy can be excused. Even after Granger's promising but not spectacular rookie year (7.5 points per game) in 2005-06, few saw this coming.
Did we, having had a front-row seat to his Zen-like performance in Albuquerque?
If not, we should have. The signs were there.
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