Pathetic. You will use absolutely anything, no matter how silly, to support your pro-Fesenko (or anti-Jefferson, I'm not quite sure anymore) agenda. You can't even admit that Al had a terrific game.
AJ did have a terrific game. For three quarters or less--which makes his production in those 3 quarters or less especially impressive. It does not excuse him from the first quarter laxity from him and his four friends in the starting lineup. No player, including Jefferson, deserves unbridled praise unless they have earned it.
And despite my most valiant efforts, you don't realize that I'm not pro-Fesenko. I'm pro sound lineups and in-game management. I'm anti-oblivious coaches who have gotten a free pass for 20 years on poor adjustments and overrated player development. Fesenko just happens to be Exhibit A right now of how Sloan's deficiencies of fundamental coaching prevents this team from being a contender.
Sloan's substitution stumblings were especially prominent tonight. Evans in to defend Griffin? Really?
Fesenko and Okur were catalysts for turning this game around. Okur was probably the bigger factor. Guess I'm not the Fesenko fan that your biased delusion might be telling you.
To even things up I'm going to discount every good Fesenko performance by pointing out the stretches in which he did not play well.
Unfortunately, more often than not, he has done well. When he does, I am willing to acknowledge it. And more often than not, Sloan has done nothing effective to stem the first-quarter slump.
Tonight's game was especially clear that the solution was height. I called it before the game, and Sloan eventually tripped into a lineup that worked, even though it was blatantly obvious a priori. Then, in the second half, Jefferson actually put forth effort--not that he would've lost minute if he hadn't, and poof! Utah started winning.
Perhaps Fesenko's biggest role (and maybe Elson's, too) is not just to rest the starting bigs but to show them that their minutes aren't a given. (The backup bigs' time certainly hasn't been, even in the face of respectable performances.) Utah would be soooo much better and would have a significantly better record if Sloan would analyze matchups, make sound adjustments (instead of going with his "gut"), and reward performance + effort. Maybe Utah can do some damage in the playoffs with a Okur-Jefferson-Millsap triumvirate at the 4/5, and only bit minutes from Elson or Fes. But Boozer + Okur (with cameos from bit-player bigs) wasn't enough, Okur is now slower (Slowkur), Jefferson averages playing 5/8 of his minutes well (just like tonight), and Millsap is undersized (effort and practice go only so far). A forward thinking coach would see that Utah is likely to face Gasol, Haywood, Nowitzki, Duncan, Chandler, O'Neal, Superman, and/or Bosh / LeBron, and would also recognize that a legitimate-defending center is usually a key piece of a title (unless you have Kobe or LBJ). Sloan has made little to no effort to develop Fesenko (or the backup bigs before him) even when the need for size--even against the Paper Clips--is so blatantly clear.
You missed a spot on the bumper, McFly.
