I don't hype KPJ's assists - I find his passing needs work on accuracy, but he is passing off the bounce and he is closely guarded making them more difficult but many of his passes are too low or too high, a bit inaccurate. Now, watch Garuba he is cutting through the middle and has a ton of space because most players know he is not a threat to score. Comparing the two is a waste of time they are not remotely comparable. And we shouldn't pollute one thread with the same tired arguments we are making in another. Garuba, IMHO, will be in the Gleague to develop this year. DD
This might be your best argument against Garuba ..... there definitely is a logjam ahead of him at both big spots. Sengun & Smith are going to get the lions share of minutes at the 4 & 5 in conventional 2 big lineups and they will both get time when they go with only one big. Then you have Tate, Tari & Martin getting time at the 3-4-5along with Gordon at the 3 and some 3 guard lineups eating into the SF minutes. You have to believe that those 5 players are ahead of both Garuba and Bruno in the rotation. There are so many young guys on this roster that need minutes to develop, it's going to be hard for all of them to get the minutes they need. 8 guys on this roster in year 1 or 2.
I don't see where this is happening in any of his passes. Here were 5 of his 7 passes in a close game against Germany, I don't see where he is left open with a ton of space to make simple passes. In fact, I don't think many big men in this league can make passes like this. For reference Garuba is 2nd in the Spanish squad in assists, despite playing the 5th most minutes. His assists per 40 is also by far the highest at the center position in Eurobasket (6.1, no other center is even averaging 5 assists per 40). In fact, he averages more assists than even known playmaking bigs like Sabonis.
If you read the critics' post you would think Garuba is playing in the Olajuwon era and every C is going to be tall and skilled in the post without being a liability on the other end. It's an absurd made up extrapolation. There's a lot of those floating around. 1) It's totally made up that you cannot make all star level impact on the court without demanding a double team on offense. Literally, just a lie. If you can produce elite defense, then hitting wide open shots will result in you having an excellent net positive impact on the court. All Star level impact. Guys who can be elite on defense and non-negative on offense are plentiful on championship teams. That's an indisputable fact and a formula that has been used for decades. 2) There is not a shred of evidence to show Garuba is lazy on the court. There's a Youtube channel with several games of full possessions from Garuba. There's NBA and G League highlights. We're all watching. When the hell has Garuba ever been lazy on a court? I dare you to find it in a competitive game and I'll allow you to go back to when he was 11 years old till now. Garuba's shown two issues: frustration on the bench for not getting on the court and for having to prove himself in the G League when he's excelled in a far better league. I agree he could have been more positive about his journey, but I can excuse competitive fire from a 19 year old. How do you look at this guy's history and see a lazy player? With no offensive skills he outworked everyone in the under 13, under 19 and under 21 teams he played on. He outworked vets on Madrid senior team to get into the rotation and lineup. Any player and coach who he's played with would be hearing this for the first time in their life. It's an outright made up story repeated over and over again by one source. 3) International basketball doesn't matter but the G League is critical to his development? This is laughable. Spain would not lose a single game in a 100 game series with the best G League team. The gap between Spain and G League is larger than the gap between NBA and Eurobasket. Why does Garuba have to prove himself in the G League when he's one of the best players on one of the best teams outside the NBA? If Garuba doesn't succeed here, he'll be an elite player in Europe winning Euroleague titles. He's not going to be doing G League stints lol. Being elite in Europe as a teenager has always been a strong indicator of NBA success. Dominating the G League has never meant anything more than a coin flip. 4) That Garuba can't rebound? What in the holy F*CK is @DaDakota talking about when he's saying this? Rebounding is notoriously the most transferrable skill across Euro/College/GLeague and Garuba has DOMINATED rebounding at every tier of every level in his life. A person has to demonstrate average or below average rebounding ONCE in their life for someone to come and say they need to prove they're a good rebounder. You could not make this lie up about a more incompatible player. Garuba is going to be an elite rebounder in the NBA. Watch the game, on 8 out of 10 possessions Garuba's opponent has been boxed out before they even realize it's time to box out and then they cannot move him after that. That's a traditional Garuba thing, you'll find him doing it since he was a child. His rebounding fundamentals and instincts are incredible. There's no person who can sincerely say they have watched 4-5 Garuba games and came to the conclusion that he needs to prove he's a better rebounder. Totally made up, distractionary, repeated like propaganda by one source over and over and over again. Still not a shred of truth to it. 5) Oh one more thing being pulled out of the a$$: that we can't secure superstars while developing elite role players worth $20m+ per season simultaneously. Apparently either you're a potential superstar or you go to G League. Who believes these are the only two possibilities? Seriously, who actually believes we can't do both simultaneously? Or that there's no spot between starter and G League? We're not trying to win, so who would we rather have taking backup C minutes when Jabari is going to be needed heavily at the 4? We can't pay all at the same time and we don't have to. There's no risk. It's a fictional narrative, repeated over and over obliviously. So by these absurd predictions, you would have thought he's a 6'4 lazy big who coughs up the ball at the hint of any ball pressure and every NBA C of any skill level is going to lob sky hooks over him all day lol. That's why we have to highlight when Garuba guards Gobert. That's an NBA calibre C at 7'2 who cannot score his usual points on Garuba even in international play where rougher defense is permitted. 10-20 games into the season you're going to get the "I'm glad he proved me wrong! We're all fans aren't we?". He didn't have to prove you wrong. You were wrong and Garuba will play basketball the way he always plays basketball. Garuba immediately needs to improve his mindset about fitness, and in the next 2 years he has to develop a corner 3pt shot that he can hit when extremely wide open at 36% (which can translate to 33-34% overall 3pt%). Jabari/Garuba/Tari have the potential to be one of the best defensive frontcourts of all time (like a modern Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince vibes). You couldn't dream of sprinkling that with a better offensive prospect than Sengun. Guess what these guys don't all have to be able to do everything, they compliment each other as they grow. Future is looking brilliant.
I would add another controversial comparison. Being a fan of both the Spanish National team and the current Houston Rockets, Spain would defeat the Rockets. Player by player the Rockets may be better, but there were also other 6-7 better teams in the Eurobasket player by player, with stars like Doncic, Giannis, Jokic or Gobert
Personally, I don't believe this. I believe any NBA team would beat any non-NBA team if they activated themselves to win games. Meaning we play all our veterans, we have a full offensive and defensive scheme and players are penalized for making mistakes with no regard for development. I think what you're doing here is comparing a team who wants to win at all costs (Spain) to a team that last season was trying to lose at all costs. Of course when you make this comparison, it will seem possible that the Spanish team could win. Another way you could be seeing it is Spain is experienced with FIBA rules while the Rockets know practically nothing about it so they would struggle as they adapt. I guess that's a possibility. However, in a 7 game series that the Rockets want to win, the Rockets would win easily.
I thinks it more of the way u are writing off garuba. Acting like he's some sort of scrub. I seen garuba play and it's quite impressive how he's able to contribute when he lacks a strong offense game. Seems valid it would b tough forr silas to find time to develop all the youngsters but sending him down to g league isn't warranted. Like I said a few post back, he's the sort of player that would take the team to the next level with all the little things he do. If garuba could somehow become a contributor to the eurobasket champions, I'm sure he can b utilized on the court.
well, 3 years ago a team with Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Donovan Mitchell, Khris Middleton, Myles Turner, Harrison Barnes, among others, lost in the World Cup against a very similar France team to the one that just lost against Spain. Spain won that 2019 World Cup too. I’m not saying that Spain is better than the Rockets… but in a game, Spain could win
That's not an applicable example, you're talking about 1 game. The USA is 99.99% undefeated in international play. One or two bad tournament doesn't change the story of 30+ years. When the tournament is heavily based on knock-out surprises can happen. If you're asking if a surprise can happen, yes of course a surprise can happen. But if you are asking who most of the world would bet their money on before the game, it would be the NBA team of course no doubt. It's impossible to ignore the Rockets team you're thinking about is a team that the management wants them to lose and the coaches don't care if they lose. Apply this to the Spanish national team and Spain would not get out of the first round even. Anyways, it's always going to be difficult to debate this if you're Spanish or American, there's some irrational patriotism involved. I bet I'd be the same if I were patriotic about some country somewhere.
Man, we going to forget how DD killed so many good role players careers because he loved them to death?
Brother, I know there's a sense of pride involved, but again you are comparing your full strength Spain team to a team that is not giving 100% (US World Cup teams). You're making an emotional debate when there's nothing to debate. You are fully aware that they are not sending their best players to World Cup, so even if you don't care about it, it remains true that it's a B team. Everyone in the world can see it. To win 2 out of 6 World Cups with your B team is not possible for any team other than the United States. In the Olympics since NBA players were allowed to play (1992) and all the international teams are bringing their best players, their record is 96% exactly. So yes you are right it's not 99.99%, but you get the point. There is no one who would bet on the opponent, even if surprises are possible. Anyways, I think this is a moment of celebration and confidence for Spanish basketball fans so I'll leave you to enjoy it. Thanks.
No way a tanking team like the Rockets could beat the Spanish national team in a 7 game series. I get folks like to trout NBA elitism over the other league in the World, but bottom tier nba team easily winning over a good national team is kind ridiculous. I could see the Rockets winning, but easily? nahhh.
We agree, it’s international competition, with FIBA rules, and very different levels of commitment. The top players in the spanish team that just won the eurobasket are not starters at the NBA, but they managed to play great as a team. Returning to the topic, I think that Garuba would do better playing 15 minutes as back up C in the NBA than playing in the G-League, where his skills are not so visible in a league where nobody really defends hard. The Rockets are very lucky to have great international players as Sengun and Garuba at the C position, who would also fit greatly with Jabari or Tari. It will be a fun team to watch in the following years
it's quite exciting to see international players have a chance of doing well. The basketball world is wide, it's best for teams to utilize the international talent pool and find the hidden gems instead of maintaining the ignorant mindset that US players are always #1
We are talking about the here and now. Look at our roster and time spent in the league. Are we really even a NBA team other than by being the Rockets franchise. If Silas is coaching my money is on Spain. Team basketball vs individual talent. In time I foresee us unstoppable force and wouldn’t trade away anything on this team other than coaching.
Eurobasket has been super positive for Garuba, he has gotten in good shape and has filled the tank of energy, good vibes and confidence. After a very tough season for him, he needed that. But, make no mistake, I still have my questions about his potential fit and performance on the Rockets. Actually, he should be a good fit, because the Rockets play a similar style to the Spanish team (specially with Garuba on the court paired with Juancho): 4 guys out, high pace, transition game, a lot of handoffs, short roll situations... that's where Garuba has helped offensively because of his high motor; he sets very good screens, rolls hard, can really find the open man, can run in transition, even do a bit of dribble to push the fastbreak... He can play that role as a small backup center for the Rockets, put some good shooters around him, 1 or 2 players who can create the initial advantage, and he won't finish most of plays but won't spoil the advantage. He's not a very gifted finisher but he knows his limitations and has a proper collective mentality and true passing skills. My questions with him are: - Size obviously matters, and big men are much bigger than him in the NBA. If he struggles to finish in a Eurobasket, it's even harder in the NBA. Good news are that he knows his limitations and has the ability to adapt to a distributor role, yet there will be times he has to finish the play, and the pressure to score a possesion it's higher in the NBA (the punishment for missing an "easy basket" is greater). - Defensively, he's absolute elite in Europe but still has to fix some flaws... For instance, he gets to excited defending 1on1 outside (like too confident on his skills) and tries to get to the ball too often. That obviously does not work against NBA guards. His activity level, focus and engagement depend too much on his emotional status, and he gets frustrated too easily, specially on the Rockets team, because he's used to play on winning teams that play the right way at both ends (with more or less talent but with discipline and sense of collectivity), and that's not the usual norm on this Rockets team... Also, he does not always do the box-out job to rebound. Here, his athleticism at european level allow him to still end with the ball, but that's not happening in the NBA... Overall he'll be a good ebounder, but with his motor, length, lower body strength and nose for the ball he could be even better than that. Add to that the fact that he's not been very professional in the US in the subject of nutrition in his first season (neither Sengun, as I understand, but Garuba has also had many problems with injuries, which has aggravated his physical condition). Obviously he needs to fix that ASAP. Garuba has always been a great kid, a hard worker, a solid young pro in Europe, a winner in any team he's been, but I think he has learned that lesson. It's Ok, he was just a 19 y.o. kid leaving away from home for first time, leaving alone outroads, and probably has no clue at cooking... but at some way he knows he has to fix that issue (also Sengun, they gotta stop those post game dinners -he recognized that on an interview in Spain- or go to healthier restaurants). To me, he gets a pass as a foreign rookie at those circumstances, but this season there will be no excuses, you better man up or some other guy will step up and your NBA dream could end up soon. Because he's not the kind of guy who will make a career sitted on the bench, if he gets to that situation he will come back to Europe soon. Also, he's not going to be fine playing on the G-League, obviously. Hopefully he starts the training camp on a good note, gets the initial confidence from his coaches and responds well on the court. He has a chance to be a very interesting role player in a Draymond Green role, but he has to be aware that he's not specially talented or basketballistically gifted, and opportunities don't come forever for those kind of players.
The young guy has talent but needs to be coached and developed. He’s 20, has potential & shows flashes of what he can be. Getting in tip top shape & developing that 3pt shot would be game changers for him. It doesn’t happen overnight, the NBA is tough but Garuba has a legit shot at being a valuable piece to a winning team .
I am not writing him off, I just don't think he will get a chance in Houston because of the crowded roster and I also believe he is a couple years away from being an NBA player. DD
