Danny Granger (photo. Stephen Hill)

Barack Obama might be the only person in America who’s had a better run over the last eight months than Danny Granger. Last November, Granger signed a five-year, $60 million extension with the Pacers. In February, he made is All-Star Game debut. In April, he finished the season fifth in the League in scoring at 25.8 ppg. And in May, “Senor Buckets” took home the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.

This past month, Granger reaped another benefit of his breakout season, signing an endorsement deal with EAS nutrition products, where he joins a roster that includes MLB star Chase Utley, and NFL stars Larry Fitzgerald, Matt Hasselbeck and Brady Quinn. Yesterday Granger was working the media circuit for EAS, and I talked to him about his new deal, his summer workouts, and how the Pacers will get out of the Lottery.

Dime: You took off for Italy right after the season ended. Was that a planned trip, or did you just wake up one day and say, “I’m going to Italy”?
Danny Granger: (Laughs) Nah, it was basically a getaway trip. I try to take a trip every year so I can wind down. Last year I went to Indonesia, this year it was Italy. I’d never been there before. It was a great experience, a great place. There’s lots of history, especially in places like Rome and Venice.

Dime: Most of the EAS endorsers people are familiar with are football players. Are you trying to bulk up like that?
Granger: Well, if I got too big, I’d lose some of the things that help me be successful. I’m trying to build lean muscle; not so much mass, but lean muscle. The most important thing about EAS is the protein. The Myoplex bar and the Myoplex shake, that’s basically what I use. It helps me before and after a workout.

Dime: Nutrition and eating right seems like the last thing guys think about when they’re working out, whether they’re pro athletes or not. How important is that element of training?
Granger: It’s very important. You can work your butt off in the gym, going constantly, nonstop, but if you’re not fueling your body properly, it has no benefit. You also have to get a lot of rest. You need lots of sleep. A lot of times in our generation, kids don’t get enough sleep.

Dime: What’s your typical offseason workout?
Granger: I’ll wake up around 9 or 9:30, eat a good breakfast, then workout at 11. I’ll do weight training for an hour and a half, eat lunch, then do my basketball session at 1:30. I’ll do that for about an hour. My last session sometimes will be individual basketball stuff, but usually I’ll play pickup.

Dime: Where do you play?
Granger: I train out in Los Angeles. The gym at UCLA, they’ll close that off and a lot of NBA players play there. It’s only for college or NBA guys. Paul Pierce, Shawn Marion, Baron Davis … a lot of guys show up. Kevin Garnett, Ricky Davis, Chauncey Billups, they play out there. A lot of guys also work out in Vegas, so they’ll come over to L.A. sometimes to play.

Dime: What did you think of the Pacers’ draft, and what should the team be looking to do in free agency?
Granger: Lots of times in the NBA you don’t get better through the Draft. Even with a No. 1 pick, it usually takes a few years. I think we got a great pick in Tyler Hansbrough, but for an immediate impact we probably have to do something in free agency. What that is, I don’t know, but I’m sure Larry (Bird) has something up his sleeve.

Dime: Is there a common trait that the best teams in the NBA have that the Pacers need to get?
Granger: Yeah, there is. You look at all the top teams, they all have a defensive disposition about themselves that they carry with them. You go from Orlando to Cleveland to the Lakers to Boston, and at least for the last couple years, they’ve all been at the top of the League in defensive field-goal percentage, stats like that. I think to be successful, you’ve got to have that defensive disposition be your main focus rather than the offensive end. And you need that one guy who’s gonna set the tone. Dwight, Kobe, LeBron — those are all dominant defensive players.

Dime: You’ve said already that you want to be that defensive stopper next year. How do you improve that part of your game over the summer?
Granger: What’s funny is when guys work out, they mostly focus on offense, ball-handling, jump shots, whatever. Nobody focuses on defense, so that’s my goal. Defense is something you learn by habit, and learn by experience, but a lot depends on your conditioning. If you’re a very well-conditioned player, you can be a good defensive player. Take Kobe for example, he’s one of the best-conditioned athletes out there, and he’s one of the best defensive players out there.

Dime: Teams like the Suns and Warriors always talk about stepping up their defense, but their offensive systems doesn’t seem to allow for that. Can you guys play up-tempo offensively but still have that defensive disposition you’re talking about?
Granger: I think it’s a give-and-take. To be a better defensive team we would have to slow down a bit, but I still think it’s possible to play our up-tempo system and get stops. It’s all about having the right attitude, being committed and getting in good shape.