Surprised Fess hasn't been picked up
- Thread starter Beantown
- Start date
Mr. McGibblets
Well-Known Member
The heat would seem to be a perfect fit for him - they won't require anything of him offensively and he will help their already great defense. I think the heat seem like a great situation for him. Much more relaxed team atmosphere too which might be good for him.
InGameStrategy
Well-Known Member
Although KF's "feel" is still lacking, I respectfully disagree otherwise.
While the highly visible rationales for Sloan not to play Fes included KF's off-court antics and his offense (especially relative to a moneyball rainmaker from Turkey), Fesenko was still a factor off the bench multiple times, including a respectable performance in the playoffs vs. the Fakers. And of course if Fes had had a Millsapian (a.k.a. paperboyesque) work ethic, then he'd probably be working on the second or third year of a substantial multi-year contract by now. But to say that "we" gave him plenty of opportunities understates the importance of any player--especially a big--to get a minimum quantity of minutes on a regular basis in order to develop. Fes--whether he "deserved" so little time or not--logged a mere 1089 regular-season minutes over four years; that's less than Ostertag (also a player who had been accused of poor work ethic, weak offense, bad free-throw shooting, and even making Sloan go "sideways") logged in two years.
https://www.nba.com/playerfile/greg_ostertag/
Given that the 1995 Jazz didn't have a tempting alternative at the 5 spot (not one that I can recall) like the 2007 Jazz did (Slowkur), Sloan had little choice but to play Ostertag (also in part because he was a first-rounder, which coaches tend to give more of a chance than minimum-level second-rounders, unless the latter is a Paperboy-like producer). But the reality remains: few players, if any--from superstars to scrubs--are unlikely to develop if they don't get minimal minutes for a reasonable period of time.
My definition of "minimal" is at least 8 to 10 MPG; my definition of "reasonable period" is at least a year or two on a regular basis. Fesenko got neither (a thousand minutes over approximately a theoretical 70 available games per year is <4 MPG), even in the occasions when he contributed, and unfortunately he didn't transform such contradictory incentives into more motivation. A few bouts with injuries and illness didn't help.
Kanter is probably better now, and he probably has a higher and more visible ceiling (as does Favors, of course), so unless the Jazz really want a 5th big to replace Okur, any discussion of Fes back to the Jazz is moot, and it's not like Corbin gave him any more opportunity than Sloan did; Favors was already favored for development time. But part of me wants him to have another chance at the NBA just to show Sloan (and Fes bashers) what development time can do. Same goes for Koufos, who has also barely sniffed a total of thousand regular-season minutes over three years (and is doing decently in preseason play on a depleted Denver team).
https://www.nba.com/playerfile/kosta_koufos/career_stats.html
I'm optimistic that Corbin will figure out--by choice or by chance--the importance of court time for youngins; the financial tradeaway of Okur facilitates that process. Maybe, just maybe, he learned a bit about that principle between preseason game 1 and preseason game 2.
candrew
Well-Known Member
Sigh....
Does this mean you'll be taking your message board talents to South Beach?
If so I'll drive Fes to Miami myself.
Park Bites
Well-Known Member
To be honest a contract around 1 mil would be worth it for a3rd big man
cctrackstar
Well-Known Member
I don't get into the numbers as much as some. When I say opportunities, I really mean we had the guy for several years and he never developed a consistent enough game to deserve time on the floor. He has a great NBA body and good speed. Thus it must have been something else. I could see a player who is undersized or injury prone not getting time because of matchups or injury concerns, but with Fes, there must have been something else, otherwise he would have been a higher priority than getting Howard and Watson. (Can't teach height)
InGameStrategy
Well-Known Member
No reason for me to leave when your witty but vapid response leaves my arguments uncountered.
(You got one of those amphibious cars? It's a long drive across the pond from the former Soviet Union to the Sunshine State.)
jazzrule
Well-Known Member
Some teams interested
A Warriors source said the team is "examining" the idea of signing free-agent center Kyrylo Fesenko. The 7-foot-1, 280-pounder has averaged 2.3 points and two rebounds in 8 1/2 minutes a game in four seasons with Utah. ESPN reported that Miami is also interested in the 24-year-old from Ukraine. San Francisco Chronicle
Read more: https://www.insidehoops.com/nba_rumors.shtml#ixzz1hQP5wvSu
Read more: https://www.insidehoops.com/nba_rumors.shtml#ixzz1hQP5wvSu
InGameStrategy
Well-Known Member
It was something else; Sloan's tired old bias in favor of veterans, even when they are poor defenders (seemingly in contrast to his own philosophy), and hypocritically expecting youngins to produce before they get minutes even though he didn't expect the same (at least defensively) for the regulars. And despite the fact that Fes changed the tone of the game time after time (not every time, but more than rarely), Sloan refused or ignored the hallowed strategy and common-sense principle of giving youngins more than insignificant minutes on a regular basis. (Such a principle applies not just basketball but to pretty much everything else in life: repetition and frequency. And practice just isn't the same as the real thing; Korver, CJ, and others proved that.)
Okur is Exhibit A for this; while his "money shot" was entertaining and a real boost a few times per game, his defense (especially help defense--a prelude to Al Jefferson) was underwhelming, except in rare cases such as against Yao Ming (very tall, but also slow), when okur mostly couldn't manage to play offense and defense in the same game. This is why his departure is a huge boon for this team; he was overrated most of the time anyway--for the same reason that Koufos and Fes (and others before him) were underplayed: Sloan's illogical bias for vets, perhaps stemming from Stockton and Malone not needing much coaching and being self motivated (but the key difference being that S&M produced on both ends of the floor, not like B&O (B = Boozer)).
With the gaping need for a legit center that would have been obvious to most any coach--Hall-of-Famer or not--it should have been obvious to Sloan that giving a young big more than an average of <5 MPG was worth the investment.
billyshelby
Well-Known Member
Fes will get signed. Low Risk/Medium Reward. The misperception is that he's a stiff. He isn't. But I think everyone questions whether he he really cares. That said, if he gets his head right he'll be a very useful player.
Fes is one of the worst big men i have ever seen in nba. If he didn't have that big body, even in streets they wouldn't let him touch the basketball
or.....
The 11.9 difference between Fess on the floor and Fess off the floor also reflects the defensive ineptitude of the person who plays the 5 when Fess is on the bench. If he were substituting for a half-way competent 5 defender: Nene, Noah, Bynam, Lopez, Bogut, this would drop from 11.9 to nearly zero pretty fast.
The 11.9 difference between Fess on the floor and Fess off the floor also reflects the defensive ineptitude of the person who plays the 5 when Fess is on the bench. If he were substituting for a half-way competent 5 defender: Nene, Noah, Bynam, Lopez, Bogut, this would drop from 11.9 to nearly zero pretty fast.