Garcia's only chance

#1
I don't know why he gets no chance in the court,but I think the only chance he earns the coach's favor is 3Pts.

If he can do that, he will make himself in rotation; otherwise, he may be traded.Now JS replaces his role,and he gets no mins in backup PG either; what a bad situation!

Garcia is next DC, he just needs mins to prove what he can do.He passes first, scores second; he creats opptunities for his teammates, he should play in the court.
 
#2
There's a lot more that Garcia needs to do to get in the rotation than just shoot three pointers. First and foremost he needs to stop playing like a rookie. No more forced shots, no more forcing the action, no more plays that make you smack your head. One of the major reasons Garcia doesn't hit many outside shots is that he takes terrible shots. In fact, if Garcia stopped shooting three pointers altogether (and focused on creating shots for others) he might have a better chance of staying on the floor.

I really like what Garcia does on defense, but he just needs to be smart. He looked like the same old Garcia in preseason and he's not going to get many opportunities this season. He's turning 25 soon, obviously he's still young but the window for drastic improvement is closing.
 

Entity

Hall of Famer
#3
This was discussed briefly in the grades thread but I will state here as well my views. Garcia will not be traded. Having him and Salmons is not redundant. Think about it if Martin or Artest go down Salmons will have to start. Now if Garcia is traded and this happens tell me who comes off the bench for the 2/3 then??? Not Hart, or Douby or Price. Garcia isn't going anywhere.
 
#4
I really dont think he is that bad... dont know why he doesnt play much. I mean he is very efficient when he plays, why not give him more time and see what he can do?
 
#5
If he could play like he did before his injury last year I'd like to see him have significant minutes.

But nbrans is right...he is playing like a rookie, not improving at all.
 
#6
I think Garcia needs to do what he is good at. I was hoping he'd have a similiar type of breakout season that Martin had last year- and there is still much time. I think he's one of our best defensive players and one of the most aggressive. He has a lot of upside and you can really tell he came out of a well structured college program by the way he plays defense and such. He's one of my favorites and I am really pulling for him!
 
#7
Garcia certainly lacks the midrange and slashing ability that K-Mart has. But I think he could be solid if he had a breakout season. He just needs some confidence.
 

SacTownKid

Hall of Famer
#8
...and more importanly consistent minutes. That is the only way players get their legs under them in this game. Look at Kevin Martin for example.

I think he, and the bench, will have a bigger role once things start to settle in more.
 
#9
...and more importanly consistent minutes. That is the only way players get their legs under them in this game. Look at Kevin Martin for example.

I think he, and the bench, will have a bigger role once things start to settle in more.
Agreed. Our starters haven't even established themselves under Muss. This is going to take some time but eventually our bench will be expanded.
 

HndsmCelt

Hall of Famer
#10
Garcia seems to suffer form Hedoitis... really not very effective unless he gets 15 or more min. Either play him more or don't play him at all.
 
#11
Of course heĀ“ll be traded, of course they are redundant, they do the same (Point forwards with weak scoring, Salmons a better PG, Garcia a better SF) with the same upside. They are on a race, Petrie brought him to compete (who is the best do it all utility, who stays, who goes away). Salmons is in advantage right now, but Salmons is payed $5MM. When the trades time comes, everybody will be pushing for a cheaper Garcia. If there is a Center offered, petrie will be caught.
 
#12
Garcia

My take on Garcia is that like many college players who can shoot, he was just big enough and athletic enough to be a driving threat which gave him good shooting looks. In the NBA he isn't big enough or athletic enough to be a driving threat and the result is well-guarded 3-pt attempts with a hand in his face. Also on the mental side, in two games this year, he comes out and immediately makes an off-the-ball foul on the offensive end and is usually good for a travel in his brief minutes. If he keeps doing that, I would sit him.
 
#13
history has proven that you can't be a contender in the NBA without a bench. You can't have a bench if you play a 6-7 man rotation with starters playing close to 40 minutes a night. Not sure why Muss isn't trying to use Garcia more--when Cisco got minutes last year, he did a very good job. Before the ankle injury, he was consistantly playing very good, and for about a month or so was averaging about 10 pts/5 boards a game. I'm not the only one wondering why Cisco isn't getting a chance--Jerry Reynolds (who know a little about bball) has commented repreatedly that if the Kings are going to do something special this year--they need production from Cisco. Can't get any production from a guy if you play him in 2 minute stretches (see Kevin Martin prior to Bonzi's injury last year). I say, put him in, and give him some minutes, and see what happens. He works his tail off, and he is unselfish, and brings energy. He makes other people around him better. Certainly there is 15-20 minutes for someone with those talents.
 
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#14
Young Guys

Muss not intersted in developing young guys. Amundson, Williams, Douby and Jeter just played mostly two minute stretches even in pre-season. Amundson was dominating in summer league when he played extended minutes.

It is almost impossible to show anything in two minute stretches when you are new to the NBA. I feel for these kids, including Garcia. Every other team played their rookies and second-year men major minutes in pre-season. Unfortunately, Muss thought it more important to have his rotation beat the second and third string of the other teams. Results: two key starters injured
 
#15
Muss not intersted in developing young guys. Amundson, Williams, Douby and Jeter just played mostly two minute stretches even in pre-season. Amundson was dominating in summer league when he played extended minutes.

It is almost impossible to show anything in two minute stretches when you are new to the NBA. I feel for these kids, including Garcia. Every other team played their rookies and second-year men major minutes in pre-season. Unfortunately, Muss thought it more important to have his rotation beat the second and third string of the other teams. Results: two key starters injured
In Muss's defense, it's a new system and the players need to get a feel for the system and each other in it.

I can understand his playing time. Nothing solidifies this other than true playing time in competition and preseason is just the time to do it.

It's unfortunate that two guys are hurt. Bad luck. Not just that, but Brad's came in the regular season and had little to do with preseason.

Blaming Muss for their injuries is an illogical assignment of blame. If Muss had a game lead of 25 points with 3 minutes to go and Bibby was in there ... and got injured ... I might understand the complaint. But in this instance, it doesn't hold water.
 
#16
Muss not intersted in developing young guys. Amundson, Williams, Douby and Jeter just played mostly two minute stretches even in pre-season. Amundson was dominating in summer league when he played extended minutes.

It is almost impossible to show anything in two minute stretches when you are new to the NBA. I feel for these kids, including Garcia. Every other team played their rookies and second-year men major minutes in pre-season. Unfortunately, Muss thought it more important to have his rotation beat the second and third string of the other teams. Results: two key starters injured
I understand we have a new coach, new defensive focus, etc, but not playing your young guys, and playing your starters major minutes is not good and we have the result of that with Bibby and Miller hurt now when we need them for games that count. There is also no reason that 1 of Amundson/Williams didn't make the team. If we want to use the roster spot on someone else then do so. These kids are as cheap as they come and they have lots of energy and heart. We just throw them away and Cisco doesn't get enough minutes to show what he can do.

I like the analogy of KMart, he shined when Bonzi went down last season and got lots of minutes and started. Cisco looked good last year and since his ankle injury has been in the dog house it looks like. You don't build confidence by only letting the guy get a minute or 2 on the court and then yanking him immediately for a mistake. We need to use our bench and if it's not Cisco, then we need to get someone else and play 10-12 guys to be successful, 6-7 is asking for trouble and trouble has answered with Miller and Bibby being hurt to start off the season.
 

Spike

Subsidiary Intermediary
Staff member
#18
That's good, cause I saw Muss take a crowbar to Miller earlier. Hang him! :|

Come on now, accidents will happen regardless of PT. Garcia's in a tough spot because he doesn't do any ONE thing better than the people ahead of him. It's too soon to predict what kind of a player he will be, but he needs to step up his game if he wants to earn some PT.

What I've seen from Muss is that he will play the people who can do what needs to be done. As a coach, I'm not going to give a player minutes that he hasn't earned in practice. I'm sure most NBA coaches follow this same philosophy.

On to another point, undrafted rookies aren't going to get much PT in preseason anyway. Thankfully for them, the NBDL now exists, and if they shine down there, I'm sure there's a good chance that they'll be called up.
 
#19
My take on Garcia is that like many college players who can shoot, he was just big enough and athletic enough to be a driving threat which gave him good shooting looks. In the NBA he isn't big enough or athletic enough to be a driving threat and the result is well-guarded 3-pt attempts with a hand in his face. Also on the mental side, in two games this year, he comes out and immediately makes an off-the-ball foul on the offensive end and is usually good for a travel in his brief minutes. If he keeps doing that, I would sit him.
Qunicy falls into this as well from what I see. He is a short SG, but has long arms and quickness as you should so it will be interesting how he develops and if it's into a combo guard. I hope Price can lock up the backup PG spot, he is looking good and we know he is athletic and can score, but can he distribute the ball and make the players around him better as a PG should?
 
#20
I do blame Muss directly for Cisco's predicament. From what I've heard, Cisco does well in practice, and I can promise you that he doesn't ever dog it or half-*** it effort wise. He clearly has the talent to contribute (See his starts and games he played 15+ minutes last year)So what does Muss have against him--did Cisco make fun of the CBA or something??

One more thing--very questionable coaching move to have your first-teamers in at the end of a blowout--asking for trouble to have your starters being checked by scrubs who are trying to make a name for themselves. Scrub guarding starter = injury...
 
#21
Also, I hate to say it, but my least favorite Petrie move of the last three years was drafting Garcia instead of David Lee. As talented as he is, Garcia was (and is) a redundant player. He was redundant last year because of Martin, he's redundant this year because Salmons. I was rooting for the Lee pick last year and I haven't changed my mind.
 
#23
I blame Muss directly for the injury. Bibby was playing 20-30 minutes in a PRE-SEASON game. He wasn't resting Miller either.
Dude did you watch the preseason? We were a turnover machine.

New coach and a new system means it takes time to get even your starters where they need to be let alone your bench. He was just using the preseason as free time to develop cohesion between the starters. Nothing wrong with that. I mean after all he had to teach all of our defensively-allergic players how to defend (which is how bibby got injured). And it is still a work in progress. He made the guys work hard at conditioning in the summer so that he wouldn't have to rest anyone. But rest is not what lead to the injury. Bibby actually hustling on the defensive end is what led to the injury. So if you want to blame Muss, blame him for teaching Mike how to defend.
 
#24
is it just me or does it seem that garcia constantly fouls 3 point shooters and evertime he complains about the call. you watch it on replay and hes always guilty.