Our friends at Sir Charles in Charge have put together a great piece about how Danny Granger is ready to pass along the torch to Paul George and Roy Hibbert as new faces of the franchise. There are a couple of good things going on here. First, it’s great to see that some other sites are picking up on how great this Pacers team is, and how cohesive of an unit they are. You look at how they came together after the altercation on Tuesday night, and you realize this team really does have each other’s back. The Warriors were right there for each other as well, so I give them credit to what they did too. It’s tough to put that aside, and move on in the game. But both teams really did leave it alone, and finish out in a clean game.
Second, this idea of Granger passing the torch doesn’t surprise me. I think too many people have this idea that Granger is a selfish guy and wants to take all the shots. When truly he was taking lots of shots because the team was bad. A few years ago, there wasn’t the talent around Granger to allow him to step aside and let other guys take control. But this injury I feel has opened his eyes. He can sit on the bench, and really take in all those good things that are happening.
But I also feel Danny Granger will be a leader for this team. Look at how the team celebrated like they were watching someone hit a game winning shot after he made his first basket of the season in Detroit. Then Roy Hibbert comes off the bench to give him one of the best hugs I’ve seen in a while. These guys know what Granger means to the Pacers franchise. I truly hope the front office will find ways to keep him around when his contract is up, and he can finish his career as an Indiana Pacers. How many guys can do that? To think that we would have two just in the past couple of decades in Danny Granger and Reggie Miller would be awesome.
I wouldn’t worry about Granger thinking he needs to get his scoring, even though I think he wants to contribute. He feels like he will owe it to the team, but he doesn’t need to. That’s a good thing. There’s Paul George doing his thing this season. There’s David West, who’s been in beast mode at times, and you just know he’s ready to score. I thought George Hill on Tuesday night kept up with Stephen Curry as much as he could scoring wise. There’s the bench that can come together at times. Danny Granger will be a part of this team in more ways than just what he can do on the court. That’s the more important part in my mind. What he can add to this team mentally is just as important. This team feels like it’s ready to do something special, and Granger will be right there with them.