Boban was +12, do people actually care about preseason game +/- ? That's got to be a crime of sorts. Bruno has literally one way to score off a set offense, which is, roll and catch, and his range is about 3 feet, so by necessity he's going to live on these plays.
7 rebounds and 2 blocks in 13 minutes from Garuba who's allegedly an average rebounder and is too small to protect the rim. Good job. 0 points though. He and the backup guards do not look ready to PnR at the NBA level right now. Seems to have shelved his 3pt shot rather than worked on it, which is what happens when you get overweight, you lose the opportunity to work on a skill just to lose weight. Bruno is looking improved but for him it's always been whether he can defend somewhere, anywhere at the NBA level. He's been trying to add a 3pter to his game for 5 years now and he was an above average FT shooter (regressing now) before ever joining the NBA. He's 24 which is ok. I do get the feeling he's been more motivated to accept his non-star NBA role since he joined the Rockets. Rooting for the guy. Garuba looks elite for his experience level on one entire end of the court i.e. roughly 50% of all possessions in any game and no defensive weaknesses on the perimeter for a big man. Bruno looks like he can do a small portion of the other half of the court really well (PnR lob threat, what 10-15% of possessions?) and last year was the first time I saw flashes of him being able to protect the paint. Overall, I can't see Bruno separating himself on overall offense (PPP on offense) such that it will make up that defensive gap between them. It's a nice little competition we have going on though. If Garuba is not at least as good as Bruno to end the season, it's true he should be out but just the fact that it's competitive right now is a hint that it's unlikely. If Garuba is roughly the same or better by the end of the season, obviously you go with the guy 4 years younger. Sengun is young and can get erratic at times, you will definitely need a more active than usual 3rd string C. I'm sure everyone will get an opportunity to show what they can do in the right role. To be honest, I really like this 3-man rotation especially with Jabari as a 4th option when we want to go fully 5-out.
yeah, the Rockets just signed Fernando to a guaranteed deal so it seems like they made their choice already for this year. Garuba looked pretty much the same as he always has - undersized defensive big man with zero ability to do anything on offense. I'll give you points for the "too fat to have shot 3's during the offseason" explanation though.
This is a customary step after just one season, and is a no-brainer with starters Green and Sengun, who are key figures in the rebuild. But the decision was also made with Garuba after injuries limited him to 24 games last season, a decision that at least felt more likely to be rewarded with his encouraging play for Spain in Eurobasket last month and through the training camp and preseason workouts.
My floor for Garuba is a thicker but less offensively effective Prince Luc. Ceiling is that his passing carries over into the NBA and he is the Miller Lite Draymond.
Bruno being able to be a lob threat and elite dunker is a lot better than Garuba cuz the opponent cant leave him open. It separates him a lot from Garuba cuz Garuba not being able or even willing to take a shot means his teammates are going 4v5 on offense. This year Bruno added paint defense, he had 2 blocks his last preseason game. With the crazy cheap contract he signed I'm pretty sure BF already won the battle between him and Garuba.
Maybe Favors is better than Fernando right now, but we are not trying to win, we are trying to develope. Favors is 31, Fernando 24 and Garuba 20
If Usman could, you know, make a layup, he can be a rich man's Bismack. Until then, he is basically unplayable in any competitive NBA setting.
Garuba can play. Solid defender and rebounder. If he can be respectable with his 3pt shot when left wide open like tonight, he’s a piece to the puzzle.
Garuba is an end of the bench project who is fortunately still young enough to be viable. I’ve said all along I expect him to be a trade piece for someone eventually. I like him fine but don’t really have any expectations of him being much more than that. He’s a nice project, so you never know!
