Houston Rockets prospect Usman Garuba isn’t starting for Spain at the 2022 European Basketball Championship (EuroBasket), owing to the veteran frontcourt duo of Willy and Juancho Hernangomez. But the 20-year-old forward is still playing a critical role.
“Our idea was that Lorenzo (Brown) would lead the team in attack, and Usman in defense,” Spanish national team coach Sergio Scariolo said of Garuba earlier this week. “He is an extraordinary defender. He can change everything. He has a big heart. He makes mistakes, of course. He is very young, but we trust him a lot.”
That was certainly on display in Friday’s semifinal versus favored Germany, where Garuba played a key role in the second half as a defender and facilitator. With the 6-foot-8 forward leading much of the charge, Spain rallied from a 10-point deficit late in the third quarter to defeat Germany, 96-91 (box score). Germany had two former Rockets on its roster in Dennis Schroder and Daniel Theis, who were each teammates with Garuba during the 2021-22 season.
In 18 minutes, Garuba had a team-high 7 assists, 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots, and Spain was +8 with Garuba on the floor. With the game played in a raucous, primetime environment in Berlin, Spain was a moderate underdog entering Friday’s action.
Scroll on for a look at highlights and analysis of Garuba’s play. Spain will conclude its EuroBasket run with Sunday’s championship game versus France, which takes place at 1:30 p.m. Central time.
Garuba will then travel back to his NBA home of Houston over the following days, where training camp for the 2022-23 Rockets season is set to begin on Tuesday, Sept. 27.
Usman Garuba with his best Draymond Green impression. Draymond is elite at stunting towards the ball-handler, making the ball-handler think he’s coming, and bait a lob/pass. No lob here, but watch how Garuba’s stunt impacts the Wagner’s decision making. pic.twitter.com/kHNlN0Zq2z
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) September 16, 2022
Watching Usman Garuba operate in the short roll gives me goosebumps
— Itamar (@Itamar_17_10) September 16, 2022
Spain shocks Germany in Berlin and makes it to the Eurobasket final once again.
The Spaniards were not among the favorites to win the tournament, but here they are.
France-Spain for gold Sunday.
France has the talent advantage, but also a bad track record vs. Spain.
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) September 16, 2022
Usman Garuba finished with 4 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists & 2 blocks in 18 minutes today vs Germany. Also noteworthy is that he went 4-4 from the FT line.
I wanna see Garuba start the season as Houston’s backup C — he’s shown enough flashes during EuroBasket to get me excited.
— Roosh (@RooshWilliams) September 16, 2022
Usman Garuba rejects Dennis Schroder 🚫
Spain making a late surge to lead Germany by 6 with 2 minutes left 👀pic.twitter.com/6K6CPsQETO
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) September 16, 2022
USMAN GARUBA AHHHHHH SCHRODER GET THAT OUTTA HERE
— Itamar (@Itamar_17_10) September 16, 2022
Give Usman Garuba another assist.
SPAIN. HAS. DONE. IT!
They make it to the finals, despite the lesser-known roster and my BS claims that they're not good enough anymore. Let's go
— Itamar (@Itamar_17_10) September 16, 2022
❎Usman Garuba is the X-factor of @BaloncestoESP tonight.
🇪🇸Sergio Scariolo what are you doing on this @EuroBasket! You are a magician!
🇪🇸Spanish basketball this summer is going for the 4th medal in European tournaments… U16🥈 U18🥇U20🥇#GERESP #EuroBasket
— Christos Harpidis (@chrisalucard) September 16, 2022
THE WORLD CHAMPS ARE HEADING TO THE #EUROBASKET FINAL 🇪🇸#BringTheNoise pic.twitter.com/9ClSt3pegJ
— #EuroBasket 2022 (@EuroBasket) September 16, 2022
La FOTO @BaloncestoESP
GARUBAZO @Usmangaruba @Eurobasket / #Eurobasket pic.twitter.com/CMCaOl3fFu
— NBA Spain (@NBAspain) September 16, 2022
Did you know that 🇪🇸 Usman Garuba was secretly a playmaker his whole life? 😁#EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/CQRhEU0HoV
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) September 16, 2022
Point guard Garuba? 🤨#EuroBasket x #BringTheNoise
📺 https://t.co/XA74VljBO4 pic.twitter.com/PoCJCQBeIY
— #EuroBasket 2022 (@EuroBasket) September 16, 2022
Usman Garuba had 5 of his 7 ASTS in the 4Q + was a big reason Spain advanced past Germany + into the EuroBasket Finals with a 96-91 win. The 6-8 + 20 y/o was patient, made great reads as the roll man in the P&R + showed his interior passing. Also also had 2 BLKS in the win pic.twitter.com/CDI5RtsZQx
— DraftExpressContent (@DXContent) September 16, 2022
