Garuba begins the Spanish League playoffs today in a couple hours. With all the other top prospects done for the season, he has a great opportunity to keep making a case for himself. Just to show what makes him special, here are a few plays in the above videos from the Euroleague playoffs that stood out to me.
Here in game 3, Garuba's all alone underneath against 7-foot 260lb center Sanli. Sanli wants to bury the smaller Garuba under the basket and get this offensive rebound. With Real Madrid down 4 with under 2 minutes left in an elimination game, a putback here could be devastating.
Garuba moves his feet nimbly and resists Sanli's attempts to displace him, and he keeps his eyes on the ball all the way from Larkin's hand to the basket.
Then he times his jump perfectly and uses every inch of his enormous wingspan to reach out and tap the rebound to his teammate
Here he's in a P&R situation guarding Euroleage MVP point guard Micic. After a pair of 3's, Real Madrid now holds a 2-point lead with under a minute left.
Micic crosses over and puts on the brakes, trying to get Garuba backpedaling. After shooting 5/5 from deep in Efes's game 2 win, he has another 5 triples in this game, and would love to add his 6th on a game winner.
But he can't get quite as much separation as he wants. Wary of Garuba's shot-blocking ability, he passes on the shot and ultimately ends up forcing a pass into traffic, turning it over.
Here in game 4, Garuba picks up 5'11" speed demon Larkin way above the 3-point line.
Larkin crosses over between his legs, trying to protect the ball and get the step on Garuba. But Garuba is too long and too quick; while keeping his hips in a low, balanced stance, he uses his reach to poke the ball loose.
Then he uses his quickness and length again to beat Larkin to the loose ball, earning himself an easy fast-break dunk.
...and again against Larkin a couple minutes later. Larkin wants to go 1-on-1 and try to break him down.
Garuba yields nothing, bouncing on the balls of his feet and flipping his hips multiple times. Ultimately, with the shot clock running out, Larkin forces a pass to the corner where the shooter steps on the out of bounds line for another turnover.
Finally, in the dying moments of game 4, Real Madrid is nursing a 2-point lead and needs a stop and a defensive rebound.
Larkin sees his least-favorite man Garuba ready to pick him up if he drives, so he panics and launches an off-balance 3.
It's clear that the shot is way off, and there's about to be a free-for-all for this rebound
The shot hits the backboard, bounces off a body, and is about to dribble out of bounds
But Garuba is able to reach through and get a fingertip on the ball to control it
He grabs it and is immediately swarmed, in danger of losing the ball or falling out of bounds
But Garuba keeps his cool and *just* finds an angle to sneak the ball through to his teammate. Game over.
So that's how Garuba won two playoff games with his defense, against the best offensive team in Europe. As I watch more of him, I'm starting to think he's one of the most versatile defensive players I've ever seen.
. Even if he's not the shortest player on the court, he's going to be, functionally, the smallest player on the court basically whenever he plays. Of course, because of his height, he has potential to become more physical and play more like a wing in the future. But I don't know if it's wise to believe in that potential.
