With so many Francisco Garcia mentions in the past few days, I thought I'd contribute some FG analysis…

A thought occurred to me some time during the previous season when I picked up 'Cisco off the waiver wires for my fantasy team.  He's a good source of three's, steals, and blocks (for a guard).  Also a relative turnover machine (but we'll get to that in a bit).  Hmmm.  The year before that, I had Shane Battier who was also good for three's, steals, and the occasional block.  Sweet.  I had just picked up the new Shane Battier.  That got me thinking—is 'Cisco really a poor man's Shane Battier?

Some quick stats:

Garcia's averages, per 36 minutes and his PER in his first four years in the NBA

Battier's averages, per 36 minutes and his PER in his first four years in the NBA

If we throw out both of their rookie years (adjusting to the NBA), many of their stats are similar.  Garcia has a slight advantage dishing the ball, and consequently, turning over said ball.  Battier is a slightly better rebounder, owing most of the statistical advantage to offensive rebounds.  Both block and steal the ball at roughly the same rate.  You'll notice that El Flaco gets 1.5 more fouls than Battier, over their 36-minutes-per-game adjusted averages.  Garcia also scores slightly more, due to the fact that he takes and makes almost one more free-throw per game as opposed to Battier (I hope you'll excuse me for leaving out the FT attempts/makes stats but take my word for it).

Keeping in mind, these are extrapolated for 36 minutes (fourth time I mentioned this?), I'd say that statistically, Garcia is very similar to Battier.  Things may be different if Garcia was actually made to play as many minutes as Battier (Shane played almost twice as many as 'Cisco in their first four years) but I don't expect anything other than three-point percentages, turnovers, and fouls to differ.

I don't know if you remember that Shane Battier was taken with the #6 pick by Memphis in 2001 and that Francisco Garcia was taken by our Kings at #23 in 2005.  Considering that Battier's contract was about $7.1 million for the first four years versus Garcia's pay of about $4.7 million for the first four years, I feel Garcia was a relatively good pick (we'll leave David Lee [#30], Brandon Bass[#33], and Monta Ellis [#40] out of this).

Yes, I know we now have Garcia for 4 years and $23 million with a $7 million player option but I still feel he's worth the money.

[One last similarity-both Garcia and Battier led their respective college teams (Louisville and Duke) each year they were there.  Battier got his title in 2001, but sadly, El Flaco only made it to the Final Four in 2005 before losing.]