ANAHEIM, Calif. — After watching him sit out last Saturday's preseason win over the Los Angeles Clippers with a sprained wrist and finger, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan sounded a bit miffed by backup center Kyrylo Fesenko.
"One day I think he's gonna play," Sloan said, "and the next day he doesn't show."
Upon further review, however, Sloan suggested he generally likes what he's seen from the big Ukrainian so far this preseason.
"He has been much more consistent this year, as a whole," the Jazz coach said of Fesenko, who last month signed a one-year deal to return to Utah for a fourth season. "I mean, he's farther along than he was any time last year."
Fesenko did play in Sunday's exhibition victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, and picked up three fouls in his first three minutes.
But he bounced back with a solid fourth quarter, and finished with five points — including a key back down, spin and bank on Lakers All-Star Pau Gasol — before fouling out.
"Obviously," Sloan said, "there's still some things that bring up question marks.
"So he's just got to be ready to play, and, hopefully, as big as he is, be a presence for us. Because we're not very big, and what he does give is some size. And when he stays focused on what he's doing, he's had some real good moments."
Ideally, Sloan would like to be able to start the 7-foot-1, 285-pounder.
"But who do I sit down?" he asked. "That's the thing."
With Paul Millsap starting at power forward and recently acquired Al Jefferson at center, Sloan instead will work in Fesenko — who only matches well against other true bigs — when and where he can.
"He's got to continue to work and be able to go out on the floor and cover smaller people," Sloan said. "That's how you broaden your game out, rather than say, 'Well, I'm a big guy; that's all I can do.' "
If need be, though, Sloan won't hesitate to turn to Fesenko — just like when he started him after then starting center Mehmet Okur ruptured his Achilles tendon early last postseason.
"I don't have any problem," Sloan said, "putting him out there on the floor. ... If Al (Jefferson) wasn't able to play a game today, I'd start him.
"You know, he's big. You're talking about a big man, spread out. And we've all seen his athletic ability, which he has a lot of. It's just a matter of him trying to harness that, and stay focused on what he's doing."
e-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com