Houston Rockets Preseason Roster Review: Shooting Guard

Dec 13, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Houston Rockets shooting guard

(32) gestures after a three point basket against the Golden State Warriors during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Houston Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors 116-112. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Francisco Garcia – 6’7”, 195, 33 years old

Cisco signed on for one more year at a veteran minimum salary. He has been that for the Rockets for the past year and half. He’s a solid locker room presence and is willing to accept whatever role unfolds for him and does whatever Coach Kevin McHale asks of him.

His purpose on this roster is similar to Jason Terry’s; provide some veteran leadership for what is still a VERY young team beyond Dwight Howard and Trevor Ariza. Garcia is able to play shooting guard and small forward and depending on the development of several of the young players and what happens with Jason Terry, will all help determine which position he gets most minutes at as well as if he he’s even in McHale’s 8 or 9 man rotation.

Aug 20, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Dominican Republic forward

(9) drives against United States center

(15) during the second half of a game at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

In his 9-year career, Cisco has filled this role several times and has almost never been a full time starter so it’s a role that he’s familiar with and accepts. He did shoot 36% from 3-point range this past season which is almost exactly what his career average is.

At this point in his career Cisco does not create his own shot and almost never draws fouls, instead hanging out on the 3-point line looking for the open look off of a kick-out or off a pass as the Rockets swing the ball around.

Defensively Garcia has mostly just been an average defender, never viewed as a lock down defender but also hasn’t been a huge liability on the defensive end.  The best things we can say about Garcia as a defender is at this point in his career he’s willing to do things like pester Kevin Durant by literally staying up on him everywhere on the court even far away from the ball. This has seemed to fluster Durant in the past year or more and has worked for the most part in keeping him from exploding on the Rockets offensively.

Garcia’s on the court role on this team remains to be seen and will likely change several times throughout the year but unlike Jason Terry, I’ll be surprised if Garcia doesn’t stay for the duration of the year, given the age of the roster and his team friendly contract.

Cisco is a bit of a fan favorite as well as getting along well with the team and the coaching staff. He is honestly a guy that wouldn’t surprise anyone if he’s on the bench coaching in some capacity for this organization in the future.

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