Really enjoyed your posts and your discussion with xaos. I see your comparison, in fact I've commented it in the past with some friends, there exist visible similarities. Still, (and I'm Spanish) I think you're going too far with that "DPOY potential". I think Draymond's character is super special and what ultimately converted him into that super elite defender. Garuba has great tools, great motor, very high defensive IQ, yet I don't see him becoming as sharp, strong, tough.... the nightmare Draymond was. He was the evil, man. I don't see that much in Garuba, even though I think he has a chance to be a player with a very serious defensive impact. I see Garuba's ceiling in the NBA as a rotation winning player. And that's not saying little, very few become that! But I don't see in him Draymond's brain, strength and near extreme toughness.
I’m curious to see how garuba grows on offense . That Has and always will determine how good he is in the nba . because his defense is straight fire . He looks a bit more conditioned than last year and he seems more comfortable using his athleticism. shooting of course is a valuable skill to work on and his shot doesn’t seem atrocious . There’s reason to believe he can definitely be 36-37 percent . and he needs to develop a scoring game around the basket. he could have he second highest ceiling after jalen green for that 21 rookie class . kpj /Tate / Eason / garuba / Jabari I wonder how good defensively that lineup could be in a year ?
Look, I think it's unfair to comp these guys as teens to DPOYs, HOFs, MVPs but it's not like Garuba doesn't play some serious defense. Garuba can guard literally anyone and he's not doing it with flops. If he did all of the exact same things at 6'10 everyone would be shaking hands congratulating Stone for literally the best draft of all time. If Garuba was 7'4" and hit 40% 3s but struggled on defense everyone would tell us to wait for him to develop. Garuba's defense is legit. If he starts hitting 33% or higher on 3 point attempts too...
Looked really good tonight . between Tari , usman , sengun , and Smith we are set in the frontcourt for this year in terms of developing guys . Some of his deflections and quick hands are well above average. He made a couple of brilliant plays tonight . I wanna put a combo of garuba and Tate and Eason on the floor at the same time . Give us 1-2 guys making shots from the rest of our guys and we can compete lmao . but , we just played a tough team . Idk what our plan is in terms of ramping guys up over the course of the year . Tough to say who is the best big out of the 4 I mentioned . 4 unique , high ceilings .
Looking a lot better. Likely a good role player for many years...great instincts..actually lacks athleticism. But, once he slims down a bit and matures...who knows.
Usman Garuba was the only Rocket with a defensive rating under 100 yesterday. He was great on defence. He really is showing his potential on that end of the court. Garuba 96.3 Mathews 100 Nix 107.0 Porter Jnr 107.4 Eason 107.5 Gordon 107.7 Smith Jnr 111.1 Martin Jnr 116.7 Green 118.3 Sengun 119.7
He is in my signature. I had faith in him without ever watching, just previous accomplishments and defensive strength at early age is always a good predictor of learning capacity and work ethic. Now we need JC to step up.
Good for Garuba. I was wrong and I can admit that. Looking like he can be a quality defensive role player.
As the only one subscribed to the Destiny Only Fans before Destiny turned 18... I just want to say I told you Destiny is a problem
His +/- should have been insane tonight, THREE of the 3pters they drained on him were after he defended each of them perfectly, contested, didn't foul, didn't get beat even on a side step. Nothing you can do about that. Despite that he was +7 in a loss. In just 14 minutes he had 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 TO's, 2 blocks. Just 4 points on 5 shots but you can see he's figuring out how to find scoring spots and how to take care of the ball better. If he doesn't get beat out of the backup C spot early in the season, he will hold onto it for the whole season. He's hit 3 of 4 3pters to start the season. Still needs to slim down and work on his shooting.
When I watch Garuba, I see a player with tremendous potential. He won't ever score more than 14 a game in his career but will impact winning. The decision making really stands out.
He’s actually contributing and I see the fat coming off every game. His defense and rebounding skill set is badly needed. He’s still a little raw, but the IQ is there, and folks have to remember that he’s only 20 yrs old. I’m glad he’s finally healthy. If he continues to develop and improve throughout the year, and if he keeps his conditioning up in the offseason (which will help him stay healthy), he might be a valuable player for us going into next season.
