>going to be a bit of a project coming out and few people
>thought he would be this far along. He just helped lead his
>team to game 7 of the ECF against the best player in the
>league and the best team in the league and held his own. He's
>barely even scracted the surface of what he can do. Harden
>wasn't ready to lead a team right out of the box when he first
>came into the league either. And Granger may not even be with
>the Pacers next season.

I hear all that, and he's a fine player who does a little bit of everything but something in his demeanor screams "not a 1st option kinda player" but a very good complementary player on a championship contender. He has tons of potential and ppl are assuming that potential will eventually lead to him becoming an elite player...but you never know w/potential.

case and point: Joe Johnson...there was a time when it was predicted he would become an elite player in the league...based on his potential...and we're still waiting for him to become that player. He was always on the cusp but not quite in that upper echelon of players and this what I predict w/PG.

The knock all season long against Indiana was they had no real 'go to' player, a good team that lacked a player you could put the ball in their hands and they could go get you some buckets. That's a reflection of PG.

I know he was supposed to be a project coming out of college and this is only his 3rd season but this is Harden's 3rd season too and he was a 6th man in OKC, not a starter, a 3rd option and the minute he became the 1st option (like PG this yr.) in Houston he was BETTER than anyone thought he would ever be...because he embraced that role as a 1st option/alpha dog/lead man role because he was comfortable in that position...PG said himself he has "to grow into" the lead guy role.

And I'm not so sure one can grow into that role, either you have it or you don't. I think this is now why you hear the pacers management possibly keeping Granger when at first they were leaning towards trading him since PG was emerging into his own and becoming the face of the team but after these playoffs they're supposedly thinking of keeping him because they said he's more of a natural scorer than PG.

While George played fairly well against Lebron/Heat, it was still abt Hibbert along w/D West presenting mismatches inside that made that such a tough series. Like I said, you could've replaced PG w/Granger and I think that series still would've gone 7.