Mathews came in on a 10 day and was ridiculously hot shooting from outside. He earned a full contract and his playing time, even if he predictably cooled off. Christopher is a lot of things but he's not going to be a shooting guard if he can't shoot. I think the Garuba situation is a bit more unknown. He's a defense-first player at a defense-needed position for this team. I think they give him enough opportunities to see if he can do anything at all on the other end, because this team won't be able to stop anyone if they can't get a center in there who can clean up the many mistakes we will see from our young guys on that end. I'm not sure he's ready, yet. But he needs to be given the opportunity. Christopher got 1300 minutes last year, I think they'll try to get Garuba that much time this season.
We’re not talking about reality, we’re talking about last years rockets vs a national team. Schroeder or Theis I could care less. Garuba can shut down Juancho and I’ll bet on KPJ vs Lorenzo Brown any day. It’s not close. All our guys %’s would be up if we’re trying to win, you guys are still stuck comparing a tanking team to Spain when we’re not talking about the tanking version of last seasons rockets.
It might be that our coaches simply don't know how to utilize a player like Garuba. We'll see because he's healthy at the moment. The front office has to realize the gem that they have in Garuba. It will take time, but he can play a key role in the future. Robert Williams with the Celtics struggled to find playing time during his first two seasons as a 22- and 23-year-old. There is no way to fast forward player growth. Let's get Garuba on the court, either with the big team or a 3-week stint with the Vipers. The goal is to build his confidence (which is probably pretty high at the moment) and continue to get him adjusted to life as a pro. And lol for those who didn't see the Spanish national team play who think last year's Rockets mishmash squad could beat them easily. If we're playing with European rules on a neutral court, the Rockets turn the ball over a 1000 times and shoot horribly. And Sergio Scariolo is a real coach. He's a value add that makes players better. See Juancho's Bo Cruz imitation in the Spain-France final for evidence.
