Exactly this. I’ve told the story before about watching Capela’s early games from a casino in Vegas and the people all around me laughing about how bad he was. And he was awful! Garuba needs a ton of work, but he’s young and plenty talented. My issue is that he seems to be forcing things on the offensive end. He also looks like a stat padder. He needs to settle down and stop forcing everything. He’s trying too hard.
I remember that exactly. It was one game in particular where he botched everything in some garbage minutes. It was the worst game I've ever seen anyone have. Also didn't he start the season like 0-20 from the free throw line?
For some reason, I am not worried about Usman. We need to clear the deck of Wood/Theis and allow Usman 10 minutes a game as Sengun's backup.
dribbling and shooting was a known weakness and I disagree with him being petrified of the ball since he’s always calling for it. Again, if Garuba has been a disappointment or you think he’s already looking like a miss based on what he’s done as a Rocket then your expectations were proabably waaaay too high. Dude is the biggest project on the team.
The very fact that a 19 year old late first round pick gets a single minute in the NBA shows he is not yet considered a miss.
First of all, way too soon. Second of all I question what the expectations were for this kid. Personally I just want a guy who can spell Sengun for 12 to 18 minutes a night and not be a total disaster. Basically, if Garuba can be better than 6 fouls a night I'm happy with the pick. And while it's too early to call him a bust it's too early to say he is anything more than a project too.
Im absolutely not giving up on him now. But OP has a point. He looked really bad outside of that one block and ability to get a few boards. He seemed out of position a bit and despite him being open about wanting more minutes, he looked disinterested while on the court. He'll more than likely make me look like a dick down the line, but in comparison to the first few minutes of his fellow rookie class, he's fallen short.
He is an excellent defender. I am not sure how you can't see that. He is 19. He needs to develop an offensive game, but for a teenager to play defense like this... he has a future if he puts in the work. He's not ready for the ball though
Of course he sucks. He's a project. If he was good he'd have been a lottery pick. Did you see Kai Jones and JT Thor in that same game? They were trash too. I swear some of you guys need instant gratification with everything.
Bad game and still looking raw but he will be in the rotation later this season and he's a future DPOY.
This isn't the NFL. Anyone outside of the lottery (even the top 10) are a complete crapshoot. A guy picked in the 20s? I'd say Luther Head was a big win in that position (a guy that can contribute for a little for a couple seasons). He's played 6 minutes a game in 13 games. And on a bad team. I'd say you can't judge him in any way whatsoever at this point. If one of Sengun, Christopher, or Garuba work out, its a W. Same goes for guys like KPJ. Guy was barely a 1st round pick. He has already exceeded every expectation for me.
Sengun and Garuba seem to be friends. They have probably been competing against each other on youth teams for years. Game respects game. Since Sengun has game and respects Garuba, I assume Garuba does as well.
It is called standard, he already played in Europe so we assume whoever came through the Draft door is at least Top Euro standard. The NBA is a different beast, it is sink or swim. The Golden Standard. I only need to mention Vassilis Spanoulis. @DaDakota Or Papanikolaou. So called Busts in the NBA are still the best of another Continent, people have to realize that.
