D
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I can only hope. He was a cancer. We need to rebuild with guys who are at least somewhat committed to working hard and winning. Fess was just cool with being in America, eating donuts, and getting money.
Fesenko to Spain?
- Thread starter Jeffrey32
- Start date
just got back from mallorca. didnt see Fes. i imagined him there drinking sangaria and oogling over my topless sunbathing wife on the beach.
candrew
Well-Known Member
Pics or GTFO
Beantown
Well-Known Member
Link?
InGameStrategy
Well-Known Member
Calling Fesenko a cancer is a gross exaggeration. Marc Jackson, on the other hand, was a cancer. And the likes of Carlos Boozer and Al Jefferson did not demonstrate working hard to playing defense, that's fo' sho.
Fes was bumbling on offense, but he usually put forth effort on D--sometimes too much so, which also often resulted in hindering the opposing offense, which helps to explain why he led the team in point differential of when he was on the court vs. when he was off (also aided by him also playing scrub minutes, although the opposing team usually played scrubs then, too, so that aspect should be a wash).
InGameStrategy
Well-Known Member
I never said that Fesenko worked too hard, TinyPeter; you did.
Has he given 100%? No. Did Boozer? No way. Did Big Al? Sorry again. Okur? Perhaps--if the world were in slow motion <<sigh>>. Who had the greatest net effect defensively? Fesenko--by a comfortable margin, despite the lower RBs and points. And given that the team with Fes on the court outscored the opposition, the overall effect warranted more playing time, carefully selected for matchups--and to rest and motivate the other bigs. Wasn't asking too much: 10 to 15 MPG consistently--not the 8ish MPG that he got.
Sloan was so oblivious that he rarely dabbled in such detail as matchups and strategic substituting and enforcing effort. Unfortunately, a youthful Corbin hasn't cut his teeth enough to do anything notably different (which is why strategic hiring of the right coach (e.g., Carlisle or Thibodeau) sometime during the past three years would have been a far more effective strategy than the loyalty-based approach of giving Sloan a free pass for a full 20+ years and then promoting his inexperienced assistant).
InGameStrategy
Well-Known Member
Let me count the reasons.
1. Nowitzki was a better clutch scorer and overall scorer than Boozer and AJ anyway, which rationalizes not benching Nowitzki. Meanwhile, AJ's matador D clearly lost games for Utah at the beginning of last year, especially when Sloan did not adjust. Amidst C-Booz's on-court grunting and dramatic offense, the damaging defense was less obvious, but plenty perceptible.
2. Carlisle was enforcing defense as a team, and even Nowitzki bought in to it--and preached it further as a captain, something that I don't think Boozer did much. Also, Avery Johnson helped put the "D" in "irk"--something that Sloan didn't successfully do with CB or MO for more than a few minutes or games at a time. So while Carlisle appears to have selectively benched other Mavs for dogging it, he was less likely to need to do so for Dirk, who had starting playing better D before Carlisle even arrived.
https://armchairgm.wikia.com/Dirk_Nowitzki#Defense_.26_Rebounding
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20100219_DAL@ORL
3. Unlike Utah, Dallas didn't have viable alternatives to Nowitski. Against many lineups, Millsap + Fesenko (or even Elson, when he was added) was a comparable or sometimes superior option to the defenseless Boozer and/or Okur/AJ, especially in situations where either or both Booze and Slowkur/Slow Al started playing even softer defense to protect themselves from foul trouble or injury. Or breaking a sweat.
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50% of the time is "nearly every year?
Producing good +/- statistics in limited minutes is supports the idea that Fesenko was used properly his last couple of years, rather than the opposite. He was played when he could have a good effect on the game, despite his limitations. Considering that conditioning was a factor every year, even his fourth, that's really all you can hope for.