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First off, congrats on Evans. Guy's obviously a stud-in-the-making, and you all know it.

Anyways, this is strictly a fantasy question. I'm in a big league, etc. From reports, it looks like Garcia will be back sometime in early February, so about 1 month from now he should be back.

What type of return do you think he'll have? Will he be eased into the rotation? Do you see him putting up near 12 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, a steal and a block and a three per game?

Edit: I've already picked him up, but depending on how soon he'll be back in the rotation, I may opt to drop him in favor of someone else.

I have said I am most worried about his return. Most people I know hate Garcia, I'm not one of them but I do recognize his tendency to hold on to the ball too long. Last year I noticed it quite often and it drove me crazy. He is the leader of this team, and I think that makes him think he needs to do more than he actually does. I hope he meshes, but honestly, other than leadership, there's not much he offers to the team that players like Casspi or Greene do not.

EDIT:

I guess I didn't answer the question haha.

I don't expect big numbers. Westphal likes to rotate a lot of players. He's all about matchups, who's on, etc. I think Garcia's minutes will be yanked around ala Nocioni. So I wouldn't expect big averages, but he might have a big game here or there.

I love GArcia, and I think his energy with this squad will be some great added depth for us. Since he can play 3 positions, I think he can sneak in some good minutes without anyone's suffering too much. I think he can still put up numbers like last year.

I think most of his effort will be put on defense early in his return. He's not going to be dominating the ball so he'll have to make his presence felt on defense and then catch and shoot 3s. I think he'll be successful in those two arenas.

We're just too loaded at the wing positions, so don't expect much. You're probably better off dropping him. Whatever minutes he gets will be for defensive purposes and for match-ups.

Nicky Nix Nook wrote:I have said I am most worried about his return. Most people I know hate Garcia, I'm not one of them but I do recognize his tendency to hold on to the ball too long. Last year I noticed it quite often and it drove me crazy. He is the leader of this team, and I think that makes him think he needs to do more than he actually does. I hope he meshes, but honestly, other than leadership, there's not much he offers to the team that players like Casspi or Greene do not.

Huh? What? Did I miss something? When did THAT happen?

SacTownKings4Life wrote:

Nicky Nix Nook wrote:I have said I am most worried about his return. Most people I know hate Garcia, I'm not one of them but I do recognize his tendency to hold on to the ball too long. Last year I noticed it quite often and it drove me crazy. He is the leader of this team, and I think that makes him think he needs to do more than he actually does. I hope he meshes, but honestly, other than leadership, there's not much he offers to the team that players like Casspi or Greene do not.

Huh? What? Did I miss something? When did THAT happen?

I think NNN meant that Garcia is the VOCAL leader of the team. With Kevin and now Tyreke being quiet personalities, Garcia is the vocal leader that will pull the team together when needed and light a fire in them. I personally love Garcia and this part of his personality is very needed with this very young team. Just look how Casspi is playing this year after being taken under Garcia' s wing.

I think he can end up anywhere from starter to Udoka's role. For me it depends on what makes the teams overall defense better...What I'm actually starting to consider is something of a Boston approach where the Kings end up trading some of the young wing talent to make themselves something like contenders right away, because it's going to be so hard to fit all the guys we've got. So if that were to happen Garcia would stay and have more minutes.

I have a suspicion of a trade involving Spencer, cap space and a wing is in the works.

OGSactownballer wrote:I have a suspicion of a trade involving Spencer, cap space and a wing is in the works.

Despite his subpar perfomance as of late, I somehow doubt we have any intentions of trading Spencer. We're already shallow enough up front as it is. He's a young body, if nothing else.

If Francisco is the play maker everyone says he is, then I think it would make sense to start him alongside Evans and Martin, because apparently Evans works better with another ball handler in the lineup... Although I don't know how he's going to guard guys like Paul Pierce or Carmelo who have like 30 pounds on him.

I mean for Christ's sake. I've seen Jason Thompson bring the ball up the court more often than I'd like.

As a follow up, I see Garcia practiced back about two weeks ago. He originally was slated to return in early February...Does the return to practice mean he could return now within 1-2 weeks? (like by the end of January?) I have searched for news, but haven't found much since an update from about 2 weeks ago saying he practiced...I mean if he practiced, he must be getting close, right?

Ya, he said last week on the radio, he was hoping to return on the road trip, so it really should be anyday now unless there has been some setback we havn't heard.

My hope is that Cisco can be a spark plug for us. When Brockman comes in and gets all those hustle plays the kings play better and with heart. I think Cisco can do the same thing for us.

Any further news on Garcia??

cuad wrote:If Francisco is the play maker everyone says he is, then I think it would make sense to start him alongside Evans and Martin, because apparently Evans works better with another ball handler in the lineup... Although I don't know how he's going to guard guys like Paul Pierce or Carmelo who have like 30 pounds on him.

I mean for Christ's sake. I've seen Jason Thompson bring the ball up the court more often than I'd like.

Bruce Bowen was never as strong as a lot of the SF's he guarded (granted the Kings saw that most clearly with Bonzi Wells). Point being, Cisco is a good defender, so in many cases, I don't see that being a huge issue.

And I personally have said in the past that Cisco could be a really nice fit with Kevin and Tyreke. I think Beno also is offensively, for the record. The only problem there is that then we kind of have to go small with either Tyreke or Kevin at SF.

Preferably one where he doesn't fall on the injured wrist in practice only days before his scheduled return.

SS_MagicMark wrote:Preferably one where he doesn't fall on the injured wrist in practice only days before his scheduled return.

Yeah, that sucks. I'm maintaining 3rd (out of 20), but now Garcia's had a setback, and Boozer (who I have) could be out for a while. Dammit.

You guys know the severity? Yahoo lists it as "day-to-day". I've been holding him for over a month now, so I may as well just weather the storm. But if you guys know something I don't, please share. I may have to drop him.