Prospect forward Usman Garuba, who will soon enter his second NBA season with the Houston Rockets, has had a strong run in recent weeks at the European Basketball Championship (EuroBasket 2022) as a defensive anchor in Spainโs frontcourt.
In Tuesdayโs 100-90 victory (box score) over Finland, which sent Spain into the tournamentโs final four, the 20-year-old had 7 points (50% FG), 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in 16 minutes off the bench.
But Rockets general manager Rafael Stone isnโt too surprised by what heโs seen. After all, thereโs a reason why Houston selected Garuba in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft. In an appearance at Mondayโs company service day in Houston, Stone said of Garuba:
I think he can play defense at a really high level. It was a really hard year for him. Weโve talked about it. Certain things are outside of your control, and he was just hurt a lot.
Itโs obviously good to see him getting back in the flow, feeling more confident, and impacting the game at a high level. Heโs going to have to translate it to the NBA, which is different. What heโs shown the past couple weeks, we knew. Weโve seen that in years past. It is good to see him play well, but itโs on him and on us to find a way to translate that.
Stone went on to add that both Garuba and Alperen Sengun, who played well for Turkey prior to their elimination last weekend, had implemented new ideas brought to them by the Rockets.
โThey are the guys that we thought they were,โ Stone said of the duo. โI am happy with the progression. I think both have gotten better. They both got better, game by game by game, and I think thatโs rewarding. Some of the stuff that weโve asked them to work on, theyโve worked on, and in real-time you can see some of the results.โ
Spain and Garuba will continue their EuroBasket run with a semifinal game on Friday, Sept. 16, which can be streamed at RocketsWatch. Depending on the result, Spain will then play in either the championship or third-place game on Sunday, Sept. 18.
Just over a week later, Garuba will report to 2022-23 training camp with the rest of the Rockets when it begins on Tuesday, Sept. 27.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Rockets Wireโฆ