He's like the 8th youngest player out of 520+ in the NBA. He's going to be the perfect defensive partner to Sengun in the frontcourt. He was a real Madrid starter (a team with two players who declined non-minimum NBA offers) the g league is shooting practice for him. Not even running full speed here I can tell. Can understand his frustration, but **** happens. He absolutely needs to work on his corner 3 to get into an NBA rotation. The Rockets are giving opportunities based on team control of contracts rather than performance or hard work so it will undoubtedly cause problems because it's not aligned with real human value systems.
Umm, no this isn't 20 years ago. Rudy Fernandez is not a good NBA player. Real Madrid's roster looks like it sucks, and Garuba's #s there aren't really anything special. RGVipers at full strength this year would absolutely embarrass Real Madrid.
sorry bro that's so far from my opinion I don't think we'd get anywhere discussing it and I don't think any of us would gain anything
If Sengun is the Rocket's future center, they really will need Garuba to be part of that. I think Sengun will do well defending other 5s, but I don't think he has the foot speed to consistently guard the perimeter, and I also don't think he will be a rim protector, so his career will likely be a 5 instead of a 4 (but without good rim protection). Garuba, at least on paper, is a mobile player that has the foot speed to guard perimeter players, but also the wing-span (7-2) and defensive instincts to protect the rim. He actually would compliment Sengun's weaknesses well, but again this is all on paper. Of course, it'll be amazing if the Rockets do go 4-4 on their rookies, but odds are at least 1 of them won't pan out.
I think he’ll end up a solid pro if he works hard. There were stretches at the Olympics where he looked very competent.
What's most interesting about Garuba, to go with his defense, is his Bam Adebayo-esque passing and developing ball handling. Let him F up in RGV so he can develop those skills.
You won't change your mind, but a neutral may learn how poor the European leagues rosters have become now that the most talented players come to the NBA earlier in their careers. Earlier in the thread: The "Garuba played on a good team, therefore he must be good!" argument looks way worse once a casual looks at the flotsam and jetsam he was competing with, and aligns with his current output.
Garuba was drafted as a project, looks like a project, and will be a project for at least this year. If Wood gets traded with no big coming back he will get a little more playing time. Calling him a bust is just as stupid as calling Green, JC, or Sengun a bust. It’s incredible how impatient fans on this board can be with a club that has been broken down to a veteran base of Christian Wood and Gordan. I’ve got news for a lot of you out there. We are going to suck again next year. We are re-building, it takes years not months.
Guess you’re late to the party….big news out this week that we are looking to get a cornerstone superstar at the trade deadline and likely Garuba will be part of the package to get him/they/it.
Just for levity the Liga ACB is widely regarded as one of the best basketball leagues outside of the NBA. I think you would find yourself underwhelmed if you looked at most Euro rosters if name recognition is the goal. Real Madrid is however routinely in the championship game and has also won the Euroleague Championship a couple of times over the last decade which is supposed to be the best European league out there, but the best of the best play in the NBA no doubt about that. "talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships"
Trying to get a cornerstone and getting one are two different things. I believe Stone is re-building towards a 2024 playoff appearance. If he blows up the re-build now it is because of Tito. That being said, if a star falls in our lap for a reasonable cost then, of course, he should jump on it and accelerate the re-build. I’m just praying that Tillman isn’t mandating a Simmons or Dame catastrophe, similar to the idiotic Westbrook trade. Let Stone be Stone and we will have a strong future and be in a good position to get that star via trade or FA in 2024. Hopefully by then, the star we add will be going to a solid core with our home grown stars like Green, Sengun and this year’s pick.
Sure but the relevant storyline is that the gap between the NBA and the European leagues has widened considerably in the last 20 years due to talent flows. The best European prospects are gone by age 19. Meanwhile the real story is the G league's growth to a real minor league for the NBA. With the advent of 2-way contracts, team allocations and early entry players opting out, the G league has improved dramatically to the point where a fully stacked G league team (like the Vipers) has a roster that Real Madrid can only dream of, and instead they're trotting out retreads like Anthony Randolph due to the reversal of the talent flow. But, you know, magic allusion to "team ball" or something that is always put forward here. That obviously is lost on posters who are trapped in a 2004 view of the NBDL and European teams
Not so sure about that. Teenagers and expired veterans fill the GLeague with marginal coaching. What the GLeague does is prepare prospects for the types of offenses and pace of the NBA game and gives those players time to refine their game usually in ISO situations and game theory applications. Euro ball is the epitome of team ball and its fairly evident to see when you watch them play. While not frequent Euro teams have beaten NBA teams in competitive games and this very Real Madrid team has one of those wins vs the Toronto Raptors albeit in 2007. Im not arguing Euro ball an equivalent to NBA, but its definitely a contemporary to the GLeague if not better solely for the competitive aspect. Now I do feel the GLeague is a better training ground than NCAA basketball, but thats a whole different can of worms.
Same for the Euroleague, its loaded with teens and grizzled retreads, except the best teenagers are in the NBA and the G league already, as are those with a path to an NBA roster. Again, Real Madrid's top player this year, and last year, is journeymen stiff Walter "Edy"Tavares , last seen after being cut by the Hawks and then multiple GLeague teams, most recently Raptors 905. There's no amount of magic allusions to "team ball" that's going to change the fact that the Euroleague top teams are all loaded with those kinds of has beens and never-weres. Mostly 2nd round picks who got cut after a year or 2 and then chased the dream in the G league for a but before downgrading abroad. Again, full strength Vipers from this year, you get Nix, Queen, Lamb, Gerald Green, Garrison Matthews - that's as good or better than the throwaways the that populate the rosters of the Euroleague creme de la creme.
You're missing the point about the team ball argument. Euro ball doesnt cater to "stars". It is a philosophical necessity that players across the pond learn how to share the ball and work within a team concept. You're getting too caught up in name recognition. Watch a Euro game from time to time and I bet you'll raise your eyes at the level of unselfishness. The Vipers would get WAXED by Real Madrid because the Vipers dont play as a cohesive unit. They are there to spotlight and play individual ball with the hopes that an NBA team notices them and they get a call up - winning games is almost incidental in the GLeague since nobody is playing defense anyway - almost like a poor mans all star game. Euro ball is a much more competitive circuit and their goal is to win games and not to cultivate prospects.
for some teams it takes decades...and some teams never do it or do it in a year or 2 imho rockets sucking has nothing to do with roster...winning is just not stimulated in nba...they do not care... they benched the best player and play him only scarce minutes....and we could be contending this year already and its a perfect year, high variance pandemic year...
