I believe Mobley leads the league in altered shots, which often gives me FOMO that we missed drafting a future Defensive MVP that radically changes entire games, which he already does. I preferred Mobley over Green, and I desperately want to be proved wrong, and what makes me sleep at nights is to remember that it wasn’t Mobley who Stone said was the #1 defensive player in the draft, it was Garuba. I had forgotten that Garuba is on this team. He may be one of the must ungraceful offensive players in the league at the moment (how else do you last until #23 as the top defensive player), but I’ve never seen someone more graceful and dominant to watch on the defensive side of things. More so than Mobley. Imagine when he’s getting the minutes (after enough ball handling and shooting drills) to guard the likes of Antetokounmpo, Jokic, Doncic, MVPs that can take over games. Then again, what if Mobley and Garuba were on the same team, that’s almost unfair on defense. Oh no, I’m doing it again. Go for MVP Jalen!!!
Come On now, put some respect on Giannis name. You think a raw rookie goin contain the reigning finals mvp and former regular season mvp? No one player contains Giannis. It takes a calculated team effort. And it doesn’t look like Wood can be a fundamental part of that equation with his soft ass!!!
you wanted to 'contain' the mvp with a g-league defender? loved your optimism. Can Garuba become a nba level defensive specimen? probably.
This guy didn't watch the Olympics where Garuba locked down Jason Tatum and Bam in the same game.. sorry for this guy.
Rockets had the best draft in the entire league and it's not even close. All of them have the potential to be something special, only the haters take side. Development and their work ethic will tell the rest of the story. Even the kid in the G league right now, Daishen, is intriguing. Can't wait to see him up.
Rudy Gobert: Round 1, pick 27. Draymond Green: Round 2, pick 35. Kawhi Leonard: Round 1, pick 15. Giannis: Round 1, pick 15. Those are the last 4 winners of DPoY. At the end of the day, you still have to be able to put the ball in the basket. Garuba is as raw as Giannis and unpolished as Kawhi were, when they entered the league. Just because someone is projected to be all-world on defense, doesn't mean they should be drafted super high. One can argue that the potential of Garuba's defense is higher than the potential for Green's offense. Yet one was drafted #2 and one was drafted #23. Offense is still the name of the game.
Very interesting facts. Gratitude for the analysis! Agreed. And... knowing what people know now, each of those guys could easily justify being a #1 pick. Offense is the name of the game, but defense when it comes to the draft is both vastly underrated and apparently vastly less projectable, or perhaps vastly less able to sell tickets in the short term vs earn wins/championships in the long. I'm thrilled we have Garuba.
Garuba was a wasted pick imo. There were other better players in that range that they should have chosen. He was the only questionable pick in what would have been a perfect draft for the Rockets. Still a good draft for the Rockets though.
Same crowd that thought mediocre wing defenders could stop Harden back when he was averaging 30+ per game
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usman_Garuba Let me just leave his resume here. I am not sure if you understand the difference between g-league and top euro leagues but it is like MIT vs a bad community college. Not to say that he will contain Giannis but your g-league reference is meaningless and he probably has an nba level defense or will have in a year. And there is a certain correlation between being good defensively early in your career and the ability and motivation to develop. These guys are usually good learners with high discipline. So I think he is a very good pick at his spot. Euro league rising player, youngest player to start in ACB and in Real Madrid not in a junk team. Come on, show some respect.
I think it could’ve been a great draft had they gone 2- Mobley 16- Senguin 23- McBride 24- Christopher This way Porter Jr is still a wing, Mobley + Sengun would have been a killer versatile bigs combo , and Christopher & McBride would have given you big energy off the bench.
It's far too early to say 'wasted pick,' imo. Rookie season isn't over and we all knew that Garuba would be limited offensively. Just because he isn't in the rotation doesn't mean he was a bad pick. He's also still 19. Which blows the mind. Also, at the start of the season with Tate, Wood, Sengun and Theis, it was hard enough to crack the rotation. Even now, with Sengun obviously good, it's hard for him to even get minutes. Garuba definitely ain't seeing the court with Sengun on the come-up and the other 3 bigs still good. And none of this is his fault. He's just not there (yet).
Garuba is not a wasted pick yet, not by a long shot. Some of you already forgot how tragic Capela looked his rookie season. Dude couldn't make a wide open layup. But some run in the G-League did wonders for him.
