The year in which Usman Garuba saw the other side of basketball: "There have been frustrating moments"

• Interview "I want to return to my parents all their sacrifice by leaving Africa"

It's as if a child had left the NBA in one year and a man had returned.

On the way home, the sensations are mixed in

(Madrid, 2002), bittersweet taste, hunger intact.

Wider, stronger, and it would even seem taller.

Injuries, a few minutes, many individual training sessions and even some time in the ineffable G-League.

All this for a player who, from the age of 13, commanded teams and national teams until he debuted as a teenager with Real Madrid.

"There have been tough times, some frustrating, but I've learned a lot in the process," admits the Rockets center.

Your vacation will be fleeting.

A few days now in Madrid, time for reunions, for events like this Thursday with Kellogg's.

Family time, which he could not see when they traveled to Houston for Christmas and Usman contracted covid and had to stay confined in Philadelphia.

"At least they were able to see the Rockets," concedes the man from Azuqueca de Henares, always so attentive to his brothers,

, who have already followed in his footsteps and debuted in white.

"My mother got up at five in the morning in Spain and called me to make sure everything was fine," says he, who lived alone for the first time.

Usman also takes the opportunity to see his former Real Madrid teammates - "they're going to win the Euroleague, for sure, in the final against Efes to get the thorn out of us" - and to train with

, his discoverer, with whom he works in sessions individual.

"Now 'my' summer begins. I just want to work."

Next week he will visit a coach from the Rockets and then he will play the Summer League.

In his plans, perhaps, the window of the end of June with the national team and, for sure, the Eurobasket.

With Spain, Garuba lived what was his last maximum competitive experience, those quarters of the Games against the USA Team.

A special match.

"I played much more than I expected. In the end it escaped us. I have that game marked, because for me it was like the beginning of something, of a new generation.

have retired ... there will be a change I think we youngsters can take a step forward, take the national team back to the top", he dreams aloud.

"I hate to lose"

Before packing his bags, Usman had a glimmer of hope in the Rockets, seven games in a row (there were 24 in total), two of them as a starter.

All defeats for a boy who last year had problems with precisely that, with assimilating failure.

He worked with a coach on frustration.

"Puf... Well, nobody likes to lose. But I hate it. I've always been in winning teams, in the quarry, in Madrid, in the national team... I don't have that mania for losing. But I'm sure that the team will improve next season", he cheers.

Question.-

Everything has happened to him as an NBA rookie.

Answer.-

Although it is frustrating, it has been a year in which I have learned many things.

The main one, that I have to focus on what I can control.

And that you have to be ready at all times.

No matter the circumstances.

There will be times when you play 30 minutes, another two, but you have to be 100%.

Especially mentally.

Q.-

Did you regret it at some point?

A.- Going

back has never crossed my mind.

Not the least.

If she had thought about it, she still wouldn't have had to go.

Q.-

Do people not understand that you and Aldama chose to continue your training in the NBA?

R.

- Santi and I have chosen this path.

In my case, I considered that it was the best decision.

Play in the best league in the world and continue training, but already there.

It's what I wanted.

Many people say that going to the G-League is somewhat disappointing for a professional player who has been in the EuroLeague.

To me those comments... It is true that he puts your feet on the ground, but I say that I am there to improve, to learn, to be a better player every day.

Q.-

What was the hardest?

A.-

Without a doubt, the injuries.

They have not allowed me to have continuity.

I went down to the G-League and got injured.

That was pretty frustrating.

I wanted to go down and pick up the pace, since in the first team I couldn't play much.

And I got injured.

It was very hard.

That week of the operation on the wrist I had a very bad time.

But later, with the trainers, during the recovery, I only thought about making this the best thing that has ever happened to you.

If you're in a bad mindset, it's frustrating and it's not good.

Q.-

And the most beautiful?

A.-

The debut.

And having worked so long without anyone seeing it.

With my coach, working, working, working.

The last game, I thought: 'I feel like a better player than before'.

Q.-

With Laso he ended up defending the rival point guards and

made him play five.

A.-

I see myself capable, but in my life, since I was little, I have almost never played there.

I have worked on my body to get stronger, wider, to be ready for contacts.

And also to be more agile and defend everyone on the track.

And if I ever have to play as a four, that's fine too.

Or three.

Whatever.

Q.-

What homework does he bring?

A.-

Understanding the game there, which is not easy.

It is a freer basketball, with more space, the court is bigger, the triple is further away, it is more difficult to defend.

And I have to work is to meet my colleagues.

Being on the court with them and knowing the roles of each one, their virtues, their defects.

And, based on that, focus on what I have to do.

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