Fesenko Finding His Way

While I was visiting friends down at Eastern Illinois University two weeks ago, we decided to check out the Bulls' first preseason game against Memphis.  We knew there were names on both rosters who wouldn't make it to this year's opener on Halloween, but that didn't stop us from being intrigued by who was trying to crack the roster.

The new player we were most enamored with with Ukrainian center Kyrylo Fesenko, who had been signed to a non-guaranteed contract.  I'm not entirely sure why we were drawn to him.  We just were.  When I was asked whom he was exactly, I replied that I remembered him as a former bench player for Utah and a quick check of his career stats confirmed my statement.

From 2007-11, Fesenko appeared in 132 games for the Jazz, starting seven of them.  He played no more 53 games in a season, which came in his final year with the team.  Translation:  he was their Kurt Thomas.  He gave a few good minutes every game and started if somebody else couldn't.  After leaving Salt Lake, he played three games with the Pacers last year before his time with them quickly ended.  His career numbers are what you could call underwhelming:  2.3 points per game and two rebounds per game.  To be fair, he hasn't taken a lot of shots in the limited action he's seen, but that could be chalked up to the foul trouble he's gotten himself into.

Fesenko is only the fifth player from his country to make it to the NBA, so that itself is an accomplishment that people in his homeland can label a success.  At 25, the 2007 draft pick is on a mission to prove he can stick with the best players in the world.  However, that's been put to a halt for the time being.  After grabbing a rebound in 3:37 of the Grizzlies game, the Bulls waived him on Thursday.  There's talk that he may return to the team sometime next month, so don't count him out completely just yet.

The general rule of thumb is if you're good enough to play in the NBA, you'll stay there for a good while.  Fesenko's situation is no different from most other players.  He just needs to find a team that can find him a proper role.  He has a lot of potential, but needs to round out his game offensively.  If he was older, he might have been seen as damaged goods thanks to the injury he sustained last offseason.  That played a factor in his limited time with Indiana.  But time hasn't run out on him yet. 

The Bulls could easily need a third center if Joakim Noah or Nazr Mohammed go down with an injury.  Someone could also struggle mightily to the point that the team needs reinforcements.  In any case, I wish Fesenko luck as he continues his basketball journey.  He's persistent and that's a quality everyone can admire.