Danny Granger's Act: Helping or Hurting?

[Built Ford Tough]

I'm sure everybody knows what I mean by his act.

 

He has been going out of his way to confront James and, to a lesser extent Wade, in what could only be described as trying to get them off their game. He has picked up 3 technical fouls in the last 3 games. While he is still a long way away from the 7 that are needed to get an automatic one game suspension so he won't physically take himself out of the game, could it be argued that his desire for confrontation in this series is actually hurting the Pacers and limiting his effectiveness out there? By always looking to mix it up he seems to be not focusing as much on the game.

 

Against Orlando he averaged: 21.4 ppg and 7 rpg on 52.2 TS%

Against Miami he is averaging: 13.8 ppg and 5.5 rpg on 44 TS%

 

You can see that there is a dramatic decrease in his production in this series. Now, I realize Miami is a much better defensive team than the Magic are, especially without Howard, but are they good enough to account for a 7.6 decrease in scoring and an 8.2 decrease in TS%? I'll let you judge that.

 

Also, one could argue that his confrontation with Wade late in the 2nd quarter of this game was the turning point in him going off. Up until then he was still struggling and after that he basically went nuts. LeBron has had some outstanding statlines in this series as well, so it is clear Granger's after the whistle shenanigans aren't really disrupting him either.

 

So do you think his act is helping the Pacers, or is it actually hurting them? Or has it really done nothing either way and is a complete non-factor?

[SRV]

I think the entire Pacers team is contributing to angering Wade and James respectively. Between Granger acting tough, Stephenson with the choke signal (Juwan Howard actually confronted him before the game and they had to be separated), Vogel saying we are floppers, the fans chanting that we are floppers, and just all the media attention in general, it was only a matter of time before the Heat snapped back in some way.

 

If Granger's act alone was affecting our performance, we would have gone crazy in game 3, but something just hit these guys in the locker room during half time and they decided to step up.

[Guru]

How can you say it is hurting? It maybe hurting his individual performance but I sure as hell didn't have the Pacers winning 2 out of the first 3 games.

[Built Ford Tough]

How can you say it is hurting? It maybe hurting his individual performance but I sure as hell didn't have the Pacers winning 2 out of the first 3 games.

 

Well, if you are of the opinion that Granger's antics have had no impact on LeBron and Wade and if he focused more on actually playing basketball and being the primary option that he is expected to be, the Pacers could have a real stranglehold on this series. You could also argue that him getting in Wade's face today was what he needed to get going and, if that was the case, it could be argued that was the biggest reason Indiana didn't take a 3-1 lead today.

 

It really comes down to whether his antics have actually done anything to bother James and/or Wade. If you think they have then they definitely have helped, if you think they haven't then it could easily be viewed as a negative when your most talented offensive player is more focused on being a pest than actually scoring the ball.

 

Personally, i don't think it has had a noticeable enough impact either way. I really don't think he has gotten in James or Wade's head, nor do I really think it is the reason for his offensive struggles either.

[DunkinDerozan]

Pretty much what Guru said. The fact that they are tied 2-2 in the series means it has actually probably helped the team as a whole. As far as Granger himself though, it's probably just hurting himself