Malone as a model for Fesenko

[idiot]

You know how David Thorpe annually identifies an established player individual rookies should try to learn from? Maybe this is simply stating the obvious, but it seems that a great model for Fesenko would be Karl Malone. I'm not even talking about work ethic, which is surely a hopeless cause, but as players with similar attributes. The video tributes to Malone reminded me just how devastating and powerful Malone was a fast-break runner, especially early in his career. It seems to the extent we can say Fes has NBA attributes, they're almost the same as the ones Malone brought to the table:
Good athlete
Much better at running than jumping (or quickness generally)
Superior physical strength/frame
Not particularly refined low-post moves (esp. early in career for Malone, but managed with bull-in-china-shop approach)
Willing passer

Of course I'm not saying Fesenko can ever compare to Malone, but simply that he'd benefit greatly from learning to take better advantage of the attributes he has, and it's hard to think of anyone better than Malone as a model for developing these.

 

[VINYLONE]

Wow, you're an idiot.

 

[Mambo]

Fesenko could be better if learning for Greg Ostertag. This guy is hopeless.

 

[BENTLEY]

Yeah, Ostertag never benefitted from Malone's tutelage. O just didn't have the chip on his shoulder that drove Malone. Fes seems a lot more like O in temperament.

With Malone all you'd have to do is say "You Suck" and Malone would be motivated to prove you wrong.
Ostertag - no one ever figured out how to motivate him.
Fes? He's more like O than Malone. --But he seems fairly simple, like an ape, and I bet you could motivate him with some kind of nightly reward - like a banana - if he gets x amount rebounds, x amount blocked shots, x amount of slam dunks, etc.

 

[COJazz44]

I mean they both have the same talent level so why not?

 

[BENTLEY]

I'm more and more convinced of the banana model to motivate Fes.

The coaches could try some different banana/prize every night. And after spending so many nights working to win the prize, Fes might get really good. Eventually his prize would shift from a banana/movie tickets/sunglasses to just dominating his competition.

Yeah, I'm convinced I'm a brilliant psychoanalyst mind-games coach. Malone will do Fes no good - Fes isn't wired like Malone. But the "banana" model? YOU BETCHA!!

 

[sirkickyass]

I think Fes would respond more positively if the prize was something other than a banana: cigarettes and ... uh ... "women of negotiable affection" come to mind.

 

[Gyp Rosetti]

Tult.

 

[bigb]

I think Fes would respond more positively if the prize was something other than a banana: cigarettes and ... uh ... "women of negotiable affection" come to mind.

I was sure you were going to say vodka.

 

[BENTLEY]

Yes. The banana was merely a metaphor. Cigarettes, vodka, and women are all prizes to motivate him.

 

[Kyoto]

If you could transplant Malone's brain into Fesenko's head, you would probably have one of the most dominant centers to play the game.

 

[BENTLEY]

If you could transplant Malone's brain into Fesenko's head, you would probably have one of the most dominant centers to play the game.

Agreed. I say do it.