Rockets GM Wonders if Usman Garuba Can 'Translate' EuroBasket Success to NBA
With the NBA season just over a month away from tipping off, the Houston Rockets are enjoying watching the success and growth of one of their young players – Usman Garuba.
Although most of the chatter around the Rockets' young, promising prospects usually goes to Jalen Green, Jabari Smith and Alperen Sengun, Garuba, who is just 20 years old, has been making a name for himself at EuroBasket 2022.
In Spain's 100-90 win over Finland on Tuesday, which advanced them to the EuroBasket semifinals, Garuba put up seven points, six rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal in 15 minutes off the bench. He shot 3-5 from the field, including 1-1 from deep. For the tournament overall, Garuba is averaging 5.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and one steal per contest.
Garuba's international play has caught the attention of Rockets GM Rafael Stone. Although Stone admits that he's not surprised by what he's seen this summer, he does wonder if Garuba's success can make its way back to Houston next month.
"I think (Usman) can play defense at a really high level. It was a really hard year for him. We’ve talked about it. Certain things are outside of your control, and he was just hurt a lot," said Stone in an interview on Monday.
"It’s obviously good to see him getting back in the flow, feeling more confident, and impacting the game at a high level. He’s going to have to translate it to the NBA, which is different. What he’s shown the past couple weeks, we knew. We’ve seen that in years past. It is good to see him play well, but it’s on him and on us to find a way to translate that."
Nobody is expecting Garuba to be a star, but if he can be a consistent role player on both ends of the floor, it will certainly make life a little easier for his young star teammates. If that happens, the Rockets might not be as low on the Western Conference totem pole as many expect them to be this season.
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