The fierceness of Usman Garuba: 1,000 shots a day and a bottle of water

• Spain - France A legendary rivalry: aggression, revenge and the ogre Scariolo

Usman Garuba

walks through the Eurobasket with an almost four-liter water bottle marked with the 16 on his shirt and with a label that reads

.

He was given it to him by the Rockets, with that nickname, at the beginning of the season and he does not part with it.

A few days ago he stated that he could drink 12 on a match day and had to go out and clarify it before the general joke: "Don't worry, I'm not going to die or anything."

His 20-year-old spontaneity, which makes his teammates and special envoys to the tournament smile more than once, transforms into an unusual fierceness on the pitch.

Usman is the muscle of a team that is always physically inferior to its rivals, an ebony power in the paint for the gold challenge against the France of

and company.

The boy from Azuqueca de Henares who amazed in lower categories, the boy that

made his debut at the age of 16, who was tutored by

in their last season at Real Madrid, is already a man who overwhelms those who take him out a head.

His teammate on the Rockets

have suffered from the defensive zeal of someone who is not afraid of anything.

ended up congratulating him after placing a thunderous block on him in the semi-finals.

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Because that, the lack of complexes, draws the attention of a Usman who these days was worried in Berlin looking for a plane ticket for

, his mother, who finally will not be able to attend the final.

Given the general caution of the collective, Garuba's speech, who has shared a room with

in Tbilisi and Berlin, is simple and direct.

"I do not have much to say.

I want to win and reach the final », he pronounced in the previous one against Germany.

Before, he had challenged: «I remember all those who doubted.

Now they will get on the ship.

injuries

The fact is that Garuba did not have it easy at all for this Eurobasket, his second major tournament with Spain after the last Games, where he received the baton from the

.

He was already coming off a rough season in Houston, with fewer games (only 24) and more injuries than he would have liked, even going down to the hell of the G-League (Rio Grande Valley Vipers).

He broke his left wrist, among other things.

That's why he took the summer personally.

He wanted to fulfill his franchise and then with the national team, with which he had been a hero so many times in the training categories.

Since he returned to Spain at the end of April, everything was piecework at the La Paz de Azuqueca sports center.

«He has not stopped.

He just wants to train, train, train », they tell him from his environment.

Physical sessions and, above all, techniques with his inseparable

, the coach who discovered him.

Focused on the launch - "we did a routine of 1,000 shots a day, blocks in all positions,

, free throws...", Dave reveals - and in the new situations that he was going to have to face:

, unlocks to find the back of the defenders, hand in hand... And, later, more collective training with his brother

and other friends as sparring partners, many of them friends from the Madrid academy.

He wanted to return to Houston like a bull, ready to show his ambition in the Summer League.

However, in the second training session with the Rockets, fatality.

Another sprain, in the same ankle as during the course, and goodbye.

Garuba with Parra, in the semi-final match. FILIP SINGEREFE

That injury made him join the national team late and in a "far from acceptable physical condition", where he began personalized work with the physical trainer

.

Not having them all with him on whether he would make it to the tournament, but with

's promise to wait for him as long as possible.

His first minutes were not until August 16 and in the first phase of Tbilisi some improvement was already seen.

There, he admitted to his intimates: "I've played basketball again."

For Usman, the last six games with the Rockets in which he had a leading role (and whose advanced statistics impressed his coaches) barely counted from the previous season.

In the Eurobasket, from less to more to astonishment.

Scariolo does not hesitate to keep him on the field despite the offensive ability of

.

Because everything is new for Usman, who at 20 is in full transformation to become the

What do the Rockets want?

He grew to 203 centimeters, but what is impressive now is his kilos -approximately five more-, which he moves with the same ease with which he chased rival point guards under Laso's orders.

That mobility, intuition and his rebounding ability are one of the keys to the selection.

«Our idea was that Lorenzo lead the team in attack and Usman in defense.

He is an extraordinary defender.

He can change everything.

He has a good heart.

He makes mistakes, of course, he is very young, but we trust him a lot », Scariolo pointed out during the tournament.

But Garuba is much more.

"He has scored the four free throws in the final," highlighted the coach of his gladiator after the semifinal, ice in hell at the Mercedes Benz Arena.

There is another statistic that speaks of Usman's knowledge of the game, the youngest guy who will step foot in the Eurobasket final today.

He dished out seven assists.

"He may surprise many, but he was already a great passer," they say.

Garuba, yes, will rest soundly: "I always sleep well, don't worry about me".

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