Earlier, I mentioned that Devin Harris might not win Most Improved Player when I talked about how Brook got snubbed for the second time. Apparently there is a reverse-bias towards the New Jersey Nets. I guess whatever happens in Jersey should be ignored huh? I thought that it just might have been the pessimist in me, but apparently my instincts were right because it is being reported that the Pacers have scheduled a press confrence for Tuesday. I really doubt that they are going to hold a press conference to announce that Danny Granger came in second place.
I don’t know, Granger did improve and turn into a star (and believe me, this post isn’t designed to take any credit from him), but in my opinion Devin Harris improved much more this year. At the end of last year, Granger was a budding star, everyone knew what he was capable of, and it was pretty much assumed that he would be an All-Star this year. Nobody was really expecting an All-Star year from Devin Harris, and that is what he produced. In my opinion, the numbers also showed that Harris improved more (Even though it is tough to quantify).
Danny Granger:
- 07-08 PPG – 19.6
- 08-09 PPG – 25.8
- 07-08 RPG – 6.1
- 08-09 RPG – 5.1
- 07-08 APG – 2.1
- 08-09 APG – 2.7
Devin Harris:
- 07-08 PPG – 15.4
- 08-09 PPG – 21.3
- 07-08 RPG – 3.3
- 08-09 RPG – 3.3
- 07-08 APG – 6.5
- 08-09 APG – 6.9
Looking at the numbers, you notice that Danny Granger’s rebounding numbers went down! Also in my opinion when you look at the term “Most Improved” one has to look at what your team expects from you vs. what they get. Over at Indiana, everyone knew that Granger was going to be the man. He is basically their only scoring option, and his team went in expecting an increase in scoring. With Devin Harris, the Nets would have never told you that they were expecting Devin Harris to be the leading scorer.
I don’t know, I guess I am just venting, but still Devin Harris should have won the award in my opinion.
