He is right at the fringe of being an NBA-caliber player. I wouldn't mind if he stays a third-stringer on the Rockets, also wouldn't mind if he finds a role on another team via some nothing-for-nothing trade or as contract filler.
I feel like u aren't really watching garuba's game. man is definitely fast enough to guard the guards, but too small for the centers. On offense, he literally needs someone to spoonfeed him the bucket, we lack an actual pg. He has potential, i don't think he will b a major contributor, but he can put up solid mins if utilized properly
I've been paying attention when he's on the floor. I think his ability to knock down wide-open 3P shots is real to some degree (obviously not the 45% he's nailing this season though), and I think he's an average-ish rebounder for a big man, but I don't see the defensive quickness you're talking about. With as young as he is I think it's too early to completely write him off and say he doesn't belong in the NBA at all. But he's definitely a third stringer getting no minutes outside of garbage time on any halfway-decent NBA team unless/until he develops more. Just not good enough at enough different things to be a solid roleplayer getting serious minutes right now, despite demonstrating some NBA-caliber skills. If nobody wants him in a trade I'd just continue to stash him on the deep bench next season and let him come out and play in garbage time.
Garuba is the best defender on the entire roster at age 20, absurd to talk about who he can and can't guard. He can guard C's better than anyone on the roster and he can guard PG's better than our PG's lol. Garuba's defensive rating and +/- side by side shows you the path. Whether you can explain it or not or you want to point to something else, for 2 years in all the minutes he's gotten when he enters the game most of the time our defense gets better overall and the flow of the game shifts towards us (94 games now, granted a lot of them garbage time). Posted these numbers in another thread, will try to dig them up. To do that with defense is unique. He can guard C's. You guys are just saying the exact same things Warriors fans said about Draymond. He has demonstrated it while you are still talking about projections about his size. For a C his lateral quickness is elite, his wingspan is 7'1 and he has a strong center of gravity. Garuba's just needs to this summer lift weights with the goal of losing fat + polish his 3pt shot. The kind of defense this guy brings requires nothing on offense but to NOT be a negative when left open. We've seen this player type a lot. I would have given him minutes this season but Silas is an idiot. The issue with next season is we must have a veteran defensive C, so I don't know if Garuba will get minutes because he's not a PF. He's a much longer Chuck Hayes with a 3pt shot. He's not the passer I thought he'd be, but I'm more than happy to trade that for a 3pt shot. That's a great swap lol. Points are better than assists, in case I have to say that. I'll also make this claim: this season if Garuba was a Sacramento King, he would be the first C off the bench getting 20 minutes and he would actually slightly improve their defense which they desperately need. Same for Nuggets, he would have backed up Jokic. So I don't believe that he's not an NBA rotation player, I think he's just not a good option on the floor yet if there's not elite playmakers and scorers on the court. For his player type, he's on the worst team out of 30 he could possibly be on but we shouldn't be blinded by that because next season things are going to be significantly different even if we only add a couple of rotation players via FA. Green, Jabari and Sengun will be on the hook for delivering the offense this team needs, no more excuses from players or coaches or front office. I'm confident about Garuba's place in a winning 8-man rotation.
really goes to show who watches the game and who doesnt. I honestly think garuba is actually one of the better if not best defender on the team, its just his offensive skillset is quite limited and needs an actual pg to utilize it. High bb iq, underrated passer, great defender. quite poor at offense, literally needs to b spoonfed a bucket. He could absolutely b a boon for any franchise who can utilize his skillset. he won't b putting up huge number but he can contribute
Garuba is that good at D / zero on offense type. Doesnt have enough intangibles to make up for lack of offense. His D is alright. But then he isnt a lob threat, doesnt finish well, has no offensive moves, not reliable jump shot, has no handles. Then his positive offensive traits, his passing isnt utilized, his 3's are a saving grace but still unsure if sustainable. So not Draymond. If he can just finish well and utilize his passing, he's got NBA future
Garuba was never asked to be an offensive star during his early years in Europe. At 21, he can't finish over bigger players, and lacking a go-to move, he panics under pressure. Adding a simple jump-hook would do wonders for his confidence in the paint. He was listening when they told him to develop his 3-point range. He's surprised me, probably himself, and everyone else with how much a better shooter he's become. Garuba may be the most coachable player on this roster. I'm not sure he grows into Serge Ibaka or Draymond Green, but the work ethic is there. Like many other players on our roster, his greatest needs are weight training, conditioning, and better nutrition. If he were on Florida Atlantic or the Miami Hurricane's roster, pundits would be projecting him as a serviceable NBA big.
What are you talking about? Our defense is 2 points worse with Garuba on vs off in non-garbage time minutes. Opponents shoot more often at the rim and make a higher percentage at the rim with Garuba on vs off. All the RAPM metrics show defense getting worse with Garuba on the court. And these are basically comparisons to Sengun, Jabari, and Boban at center! The stats match the eye test. He’s doesn’t slow down bigs, doesn’t protect the rim, can’t stay in front of quick guards. He’s an ok 3/4 only defender who rebounds well, fouls too much, and is one of the least guarded players on offense in the league. That’s not currently an NBA player. Maybe he develops in practice or the off-season while seeing out his contract, but he’s not getting minutes next season barring injury. He can barely get minutes now competing with Boban on a tanking team.
Totally disagree with you and to be honest - no offense - but I'm just tired of repeating this same discussion about DRAPM metrics. The only thing I'll say and I acknowledge I'm not backing it up: it's majorly about who is on the floor with you vs who is on the floor with the people at your position. Never in 100 years will I believe that this season Sengun was a better defender than Garuba. It's so off the eye test for me that in this instance, I will stop relying on a stat if it says that. By my eye test and the one advanced defensive metric I trust (and you can search my history to see I'm consistent with that), Garuba is the best defender in this rotation. I'll bet anything Garuba will not be a 3rd stringer in this league if his 3pt % stays above 35%. I would 100% agree with you if I didn't think that was the case or if I believe you MUST do something else to be an NBA player. In Garuba we have a taller PJ Tucker and PJ Tuckers don't look like NBA players when they are young and on terrible teams.
It’s not even just RAPM, just look at the lineup data and on/off differentials and cut it however you like — we’ve been worse defensively in non garbage time with with Garuba in compared to our other centers (who themselves have been poor at defense this year). He’s even advantaged by playing most of his minutes with our best statistical defender, Tari. And we’ve had above average opponent 3 pt shooting luck when Garuba is on the court vs off. And it’s still been bad. PJ Tucker can guard 5’s, Garuba can’t. Can’t be a small ball 5 if you can’t do anything a defensive 5 does. Not to mention PJ Tucker had to develop for 10 years before being an NBA player. And he’s a 1 in 100 development story. And he was miles beyond Garuba offensively at the same age — he was the leading scorer on a Texas team with Lamarcus Aldrirdge and Daniel Gibson.
I ain't saying garuba will b one of the main contributor to the squad, I just dont think he's the scrub a lot of Folks like to portray him as. I can totally see him in the rotation with his skillset. Garuba offensive skillset is limited which makes him look even shttier when we don't have an actual pg when he plays. Garuba defensive skills are there, but when the team is poorly coached, his defensive skills isn't impactful. He is expendable, but he isn't useless.
I am a Garuba fan. He makes good things happen organically on the court. I think he is a rare complementary player. He has the ability to make a good team great with a unique skill set. The Rockets don’t need players to make players better because the Rockets don’t an identity. Garuba could be like sprinkles on an ice cream sundae. For now with us he is like sprinkles on meatloaf or pot pie. Nothing wrong with the sprinkles but no value if not used properly.
Blaming everyone else is always a bad indicator and one of the true tell signs someone is talking about a scrub
I think Garuba has tools to be a meaningful rotation player in this league. Comparing him to maybe the greatest team defender in NBA history is absurd.
i been blaming kpj for green and smith struggles, they aren't scrubs. An actual pg makes everybody better, but sure im talking about all scrubs
the great players these days dont need to rely on a point guard. Even a bad ball handler like kd will always get his
