The Fess Mess

[Fido]

Fesenko isn't a nobody--but he isn't exactly a somebody either. He is trying to play the negotiation like Millsap and Matthews but has not yet been able to get a deal. If the Jazz did offer him a multi-year deal as reported--and he continued to shop and not give them a yes or no answer in a reasonable time and insisting on more money without the backing to justify it (as is my suspicion)--then they absolutely have the right to pull it and say what can you get without using us as leverage against our own deal?

IMHO, the Jazz have been fair with Fesenko on his playing time. While he didn't play alot before Okur's injury (who he couldn't beat out for playing time), he did play as much as 43 minutes in the New Orleans game back in March. He did stay on the floor for 18 minutes/game in the playoffs. Why so few you ask? Because in those 18 minutes he was averaging 3 fouls. In fact, he earned almost as many fouls in the playoffs (30) as he had points (33). At that rate he would pick up 2 fouls/quarter and be done mid-3rd quarter.

He has showed flashes, but not significant improvement given the playing time (which has been reported to be frustrating to the coaching staff over the years). Over the course of the season (407 minutes), he managed only 19 blocks. Based on his 8 min/game that is 1 block every 3 appearances. In the playoffs his minutes more than doubled (18 min/game) yet he managed only 5 blocks in 180 minutes. His steals are nonexistant (0 in the playoffs and only 6 during the regular season) and even defensive rebounds scarce (1.1/game during the season and 0.3/game) so I'm not seeing the picture of a defensive force that has been implied. If he was indeed clogging the lane I'd expect to see at least SOME stats pilling up on his stat sheet.

I'm still at a loss for any statistic that points in favor of Fes being in a position to demand his own salary figure. At this point I'd be all for offering the 1 year QO or sign a deal with somebody else (which the Jazz have the option of matching). Then they can decide on whether or not they like him at that price.

[Ced]

I can't believe this bum has generated over 40 posts. Does his being on or off the Jazz really matter to the team? He looks lost on the court, and is extremely foul prone.

[Luigi]

He's not that good, but he's big and goes after it in the paint. Those are two qualities that get attention, especially considering team needs. He's got A and B down, let's hope he moves on the C this season, especially since he's probably back for one year.

[HammerDunk]

Don't give a crap either way. I'll be happy if he is signed for the QO, but if he thinks he is getting more, I feel sorry for the team that ends up with him for whatever price they give him.

[GP]

I can't believe this bum has generated over 40 posts. Does his being on or off the Jazz really matter to the team? He looks lost on the court, and is extremely foul prone.

He's 7 footer with a wide frame and some skill. Our starting center might be out till november. We are already a small team. That would be why he is still relevant.

[S2Minem]

Fesenko isn't a nobody--but he isn't exactly a somebody either. He is trying to play the negotiation like Millsap and Matthews but has not yet been able to get a deal. If the Jazz did offer him a multi-year deal as reported--and he continued to shop and not give them a yes or no answer in a reasonable time and insisting on more money without the backing to justify it (as is my suspicion)--then they absolutely have the right to pull it and say what can you get without using us as leverage against our own deal?

Was anybody saying that the Jazz didn't have the right to pull the rumored multiyear deal that they had--or even that it was a bad negotiating tactic?

IMHO, the Jazz have been fair with Fesenko on his playing time. While he didn't play alot before Okur's injury (who he couldn't beat out for playing time), he did play as much as 43 minutes in the New Orleans game back in March. He did stay on the floor for 18 minutes/game in the playoffs. Why so few you ask? Because in those 18 minutes he was averaging 3 fouls. In fact, he earned almost as many fouls in the playoffs (30) as he had points (33). At that rate he would pick up 2 fouls/quarter and be done mid-3rd quarter.

"Fair" is not the optimal word here. There's nothing "fair" about NBA players making anywhere from several hundred thousand per year to upwards of $25 million per year for playing a game. The question here is the sufficient time to develop a big man. Three minutes per available game is not sufficient time to develop hardly any player of any skill level. Your possible retort is that he didn't "deserve" any more playing time than that. But this isn't the Boy Scouts where minutes are a merit badge for some completion of requirements. Any player who isn't a team cancer or a borderline criminal and is as good or better option than the next guy should be on the court. In Fes's case, there were numerous times over the season and playoffs when Boozer + Memo, Boozer + Millsap, or Memo + Millsap was a negative. At times, Boozer's and/or Okur's scoring (or threat to score) was not sufficient to compensate for their matador defense. It happened during the regular season vs. Memphis, Denver, and of course Los Angeles. (Fortunately Denver had a subpar assistant coach at the helm during the post-season, and they couldn't keep their intensity. Oh--and Okur went down, making his defense less of a liability. Sadly, Fesenko spent the Denver series and part of the Laker series developing on the fly, when it would have been a far superior strategy to develop him in the regular season, given that it was expected that the jazz would be facing the Lakers and given that they had proven for the past 2+ years that Okur, Boozer, and Millsap weren't enough at the 4/5 heightwise or defensively). This shouldn't have been a surprise; Boston didn't win until they had Perkins, Kobe didn't win his latest set of rings until he had Gasol and Bynum, and David Robinson was a big part of some of Duncan's titles. Fesenko--even at his peak--might not approach the ability of any of these players, but it's a proven pattern that NBA champs need a center who can play some defense and doesn't necessarily need to score much. Just ask Phoenix.

He has showed flashes, but not significant improvement given the playing time (which has been reported to be frustrating to the coaching staff over the years). Over the course of the season (407 minutes), he managed only 19 blocks. Based on his 8 min/game that is 1 block every 3 appearances.

You're falling into the rookie trap of measuring a center on blocks alone. You fail to recognize how the Jazz were not outscored in any of the four Laker games when Fesenko was on the court--which is a far more relevant stat. Your approach is like measuring Boozer on rebounds, when it's clear that he camps under the rim and lets opponents breeze by and sometimes even pushes his own teammates out of the way to log his boarding stats.

In the playoffs his minutes more than doubled (18 min/game) yet he managed only 5 blocks in 180 minutes. His steals are nonexistant (0 in the playoffs and only 6 during the regular season) and even defensive rebounds scarce (1.1/game during the season and 0.3/game) so I'm not seeing the picture of a defensive force that has been implied. If he was indeed clogging the lane I'd expect to see at least SOME stats pilling up on his stat sheet.

It's also ridiculous--dare I say "unfair" to judge Fesenko on his box score production in the Laker series when he had been given barely any development time during the past three years. Mostly bit minutes here and there, even when he was allotted enough time to actually start making an impact. Same thing happened to Koufos, although I don't think that there is quite as much talent there as what a center with more physical strength and passable quickness like Fesenko has.

On the basis of your narrow measure of blocks, I guess that Fes should've played ahead of Okur because Fes's block rate--however modest--was still superior to Okur's during the season. Not even I'm saying that, but the Jazz could've pulled down a W or two more if Fes (or somebody had had more experience. (Okur is a more prolific scorer, but Fesenko's FG% is plenty respectable, so he does well with the touches that he gets.)

When Fes was on the court vs. LAL in the playoffs, neither opposing big man exactly went off, and unfortunately the playoffs against the defending champs isn't a good place to develop an inside offensive game. Practice, against half-interested teammates, simply isn't the same, either. The time--for Fesenko or for anyone--was during the regular season, 8 to 10 MPG at least, giving one of the three in the 4/5 rotation more of a rest--and more importantly developing a player with the stature to compete against the Twin Towers of Tinseltown.

I'm still at a loss for any statistic that points in favor of Fes being in a position to demand his own salary figure. At this point I'd be all for offering the 1 year QO or sign a deal with somebody else (which the Jazz have the option of matching). Then they can decide on whether or not they like him at that price.

You're at a loss because you're a box score reader--which is exactly why Okur especially played at times when he was a liability. Even the threat of that trey--even though there were other players on the team who could shoot it, and even though he constantly let opponents score on him on the other side of the court. BTW, correct me if I'm wrong, but it is my understanding that if Fes comes on the QO, he will be a UFA next year, so the time is this year for a multi-year deal. It's very possible that Fegan was demanding more than Utah wanted to pay on a per-year basis, but it is unfortunate that they will be in the same boat next year (without a signed backup center under the age of 30) if he ends up taking the one-year deal.