Player Report Cards: Francisco Garcia

Yesterday we took a look at Carlos Delfino, our very average back up at the shooting guard position (And the small forward, and the power forward) and today we'll look at Francisco Garcia. Garcia was acquired at the trade deadline along with Thomas Robinson for Patrick Patterson and Cole Aldrich. Garcia is a 7^th year veteran who was the 23^rd pick overall in the 2005 draft.

Francisco was on a six million dollar deal with a team option for this season that the Rockets have informed him will not be picked up. Garcia has made it known that he would happily return to the Rockets at a reduced rate. It says a lot about a man's feelings for an organization when there's no hard feelings about not picking up the contract, let alone announcing they'll come back for less money.

The Numbers

Francisco averaged 6 points/1 rebound/and .5 assists in 18 minutes per game with the Rockets. Garcia started 5 of the 18 games he appeared in for the Rockets. This lack of time to evaluate is going to be weighed in to his grade. For a clearer view we can take a glimpse at the short sample size of his playoff production in which he gave us 11 points/3 rebounds/and 2 assists in 27 minutes while starting 3 of 6 games.

When you look at what Garcia does from an advanced stats perspective he begins to show stronger. His true shooting percentage stands at 59% and his effective field goal percentage is 57%. He saw use in 15% of plays while he was on the floor and limited his turnovers to 11% of his possessions. To balance that Garcia assisted on 10% of his plays giving him an assist to turnover ratio of roughly 1:1. Garcia's win shares per 48 communicate the same conclusion we received about Carlos Delfino, .101 (average win share territory). Garcia posted a 107 defensive rating which statistically means he was able to come in and provide the same level of defense of his running-mate Carlos Delfino.

The Good

The Dominican Republic to the rescue! Carlos Delfino went down with food poisoning during the season and the Rockets were in need of a man to fill the void left behind. Francisco saw the opportunity and was given a chance on the floor. When he made it on the court he provided the kind of floor spacing the Rockets needed to keep their offense breathing and moving. His defense was often pesky and he regularly annoyed opposing players by getting into their stance. Garcia was very much an off the ball style guard who could handle the ball when called upon or if the offense would stagnate. Garcia only took about four three point shots a game and made roughly two of them each night so he was producing at the right kind of clip there. Due to a small sample size I'm going to have to diminish this grade a bit because our window to observe was just a tad too small. Having said that he's still going to get his full credit for producing exactly what you needed and causing no drop off as soon as Carlos Delfino wound up absent from the floor.

Grade: B+

The Bad

Dat contract. It's hard to spot too many bad things about Francisco Garcia but he's going to get dinged for his deal because I can't find much with his play. Garcia was pulling down six million dollars a year when he came to Houston. The best thing about the acquisition was the team option on that last season. At his prime Garcia averaged 13 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists a game while shooting 44% from the field and 40% from the three point line. That was in the 2008-2009 season. His extension for 30 million over five years was signed in the 2008-2009 season and that was severe over-pay from the Kings organization. No one can really fault the man for taking a large payday but come on, I have to provide something for this section. He'll be redeemed because I can't judge him harshly for taking the loot and running.

Grade: B

The Ugly

Since I'm struggling to find something given our short sample size I'll entertain you. Garcia's career trajectory based on win shares has a similar arc to it as Matt Bullard. Matt Bullard and Clyde Drexler are one of the reasons I despise watching Rockets games with the hometown announcers. Primarily because Bullard has violated my eardrums on several occasions with idiotic phrases such as "Hey Bud, let's party" every single time Budinger hit a shot or "Chandler Bang!" on a tip slam. If Garcia ever lets slip a phrase so dumb I swear to you all of his grades will be changed to an F. I don't care if I'm 40 and have to get into the archives to edit my work so help me, they will all be F's.

Grade: Incomplete

Overall

The sample size on ‘cisco is not enough to really form an opinion but looking at the post season, situational fit, and being aware of what was needed when little was expected from him, I have to say, Garcia was certainly the kind of player that was needed. Thankfully the Rockets have declined his option but he's indicating interest in returning. It was pointed out in another thread that Dorell Wright would give us the same thing but younger and probably at the same price. I'm all in agreement on that.

Grade: B