What Will They Do? (#15 Danny Granger)

[count55]

This is going to be the fifteenth and final in our series of projections and discussions about all of our players this year. Essentially, we'll go through all 15 Pacers (I'm excluding Droopy) and talk about our expectations. Each poster will cut and paste form below and fill it out, adding their reasoning at the bottom. The reasoning is the most important, as it will help the conversation.

If you're looking to do a little research on the guys, I'd suggest BBR as the best statistical site.

So, here we start with:

Danny Granger

Games Played:
Games Lost To Injury:
DNP-CD's:
Minutes per Game:
Points per Game:
Rebounds per Game:
Assists per Game:
FG%:
3FG%:
FT%:
Other Key Stats (can be Steals, Blocks, TO's, A/TO ratio, etc.)

Reasoning/Synopsis: Describe why you think this player will provide these numbers. What will his role be? What's his best-case? What's his worst-case?

Lets get started.

[bballpacen]

Danny Granger

Games Played: 78
Games Lost To Injury: 4
DNP-CD's: 0
Minutes per Game: 34
Points per Game: 23.1
Rebounds per Game: 8.0
Assists per Game: 3.4
FG%: 54
3FG%: 45
FT%: 88
Other Key Stats (can be Steals, Blocks, TO's, A/TO ratio, etc.) 1.5 steal, 1.2 blocks

Reasoning/Synopsis: Danny will be THE guy this year with JO gone... And will get the bulk of looks with MDJ... He will be a borderline Allstar this year which will be no small feat considering all of the talent up front in the east...

[count55]

What will our (hopefully) newly extended Danny Granger do?

(Drumroll please)

Games Played: 82
Games Lost To Injury: 0
DNP-CD's: 0
Minutes per Game: 35.0
Points per Game: 20.7
Rebounds per Game: 6.4
Assists per Game: 2.0
FG%: 45%
3FG%: 40%
FT%: 85%
Other Key Stats: Stls 1.5, Blks 1.1, TO's 1.8

I fully expect Danny to keep up his performance from last year. He has the opportunity to hit the 22-23 ppg range he was showing late in the season, but the additions/improvement of other weapons (Ford/Rush/Murph/Jack) could mitigate that. I don't see any dropoff in performance that normally comes when someone gets a new contract (as I hope he does). Every indication seems to point toward him having a very good work ethic. The key issue before Danny is whether he can become more assertive, both offensively and defensively. Can he become a leader on an improving team? Can he help this team become good?

[Bucky O'Hare]

Games Played: 80
Games Lost To Injury: 1
DNP-CD's: 0
Minutes per Game: 36
Points per Game: 21.1
Rebounds per Game: 6.8
Assists per Game: 2.3
FG%: 46%
3FG%: 40%
FT%: 84%
Other Key Stats (can be Steals, Blocks, TO's, A/TO ratio, etc.) 1.3 spg, 1.2 bpg

Pretty similar to last year, with some slight increases across the board. Not a leap into superstardom, but a strong contender for the All-Star game and the All-Defensive team.

[Miller4ever]

Games Played: 82
Games Lost To Injury: 0
DNP-CD's: 0
Minutes per Game: 36
Points per Game: 20.4
Rebounds per Game: 6.7-8.2 (Depends on whether he plays the 3 or the 4 more)
Assists per Game: 2.1
FG%: 45%
3FG%: 38%
FT%: 82%
Other Key Stats (can be Steals, Blocks, TO's, A/TO ratio, etc.) 1.1 spg, 1.5 bpg

Edit* He will average 1.3 dunks per game with TJ Ford at point guard.

[APerna]

Danny Granger

Games Played: 75
Games Lost To Injury: 7
DNP-CD's: 0
Minutes per Game: 35.0 (down 1.0)
Points per Game: 21.5 (up 1.9)
Rebounds per Game: 6.0 (down 0.1)
Assists per Game: 3.0 (up 0.9)
FG%: 45%
3FG%: 40%
FT%: 88%

He should improve slightly this season, but we'll also have to remember that he'll be playing with a completely different team (for the most part). I think that will have an effect on his rebounding numbers, but I'm not sure just yet. He was counted on to rebound more with J.O. out, but Hibbert and Rasho might take care of that. His rebounding numbers spiked up from 4.9 in 2007 to 6.1 last year, thanks in large part to our lack of rebounders.

[freeman]

Games Played: 82
Games Lost To Injury: 0
DNP-CD's: 0
Minutes per Game: 37
Points per Game: 21.5
Rebounds per Game: 7.5
Assists per Game: 2.5
FG%: 47%
3FG%: 42%
FT%: 85%
Steals per Game: 1.5
Blocks per Game: 1.5

I think Danny will get even better this year, now that he's the franchise player. I think he'll be a real 3-point threat this season with Ford's kick-out passes. Could be an all-star this season should his overall play improves dramatically. And his fantasy value should be higher too.

[APerna]

All you guys who are predicting 82 games-played are making me nervous. You're gonna be a jinx!

[count55]

All you guys who are predicting 82 games-played are making me nervous. You're gonna be a jinx!

It's largely based on history...he's played 240 of his team's 246 games.

MOVEMENTS & INJURIES
29-Feb-08 Suspended for one game for striking Chicago's Andres Nocioni in the face during a Feb. 27 game.

12-Oct-07 Indiana Pacers exercised their club option for the 2008-09 season.

07-Jul-05 Signed by the Indiana Pacers to a multi-year contract.

I'm not sure what the 2nd game he missed last year (besides the suspension) was, and I don't recall injuries from his rookie year, so I'm wondering if there were any DNP-CD's prior to Artest's departure.

He may not play 82 games, but he seems to have demonstrated his durability.