Fesenko serves as a reminder tonight

What's up posties,

My students are taking standarized tests all day so I don't have a lot to do (actually there's a lot I could be doing but I don't feel like it). My mind kept wandering to the Knicks need for a true center, and it occurred to me that tonight we could get an extended look at Fesenko, and that should remind us all of an important truth...

Big men can take a lot of time to develop.

Some big men can take a really long time.

Fesenko was drafted four years ago, and he's still not really playing a whole lot... but he is playing well. His numbers won't blow anybody away because Sloan keeps his minutes on a tight leash, but I've caught my share of Jazz games this year, and when he plays, he really gets it done. He pretty much spent the first three years of his career as a practice cone, but this year he has become part of the rotation (and we know that's a huge deal in Jerry Sloan's rotation).

It reminded me that most of the big men we covet around the league we're really frustrating to their current teams as rookies and sophomores. Think about it:

Deandre Jordan- he's getting no media shine because he plays next to Blake Griffin, but check out his numbers since he's been starting over the last month or two. This is his third year and he's becoming a force (also note how it coincides with the Clippers winning more games recently). During his rookie year, he was a brick and a turnover waiting to happen.

Javale McGee- he's still young, and he still makes bad decisions, but no one can deny that he made a huge jump from his rookie year. He received an invite from Team USA because they can see that he's really starting to put it together. Some nights he's frighteningly good. Those nights will become more consistent in a few years.

Tyson Chandler- one of the better true centers in the league right now. Geez, it seems like that guy was bad forever back on the Bulls.

Joakim Noah- He was always a tenacious defender and rebounder, but he also made Bulls fans groan by a)fouling every second and b) shooting corkscrew airballs... a lot

Roy Hibbert- He's become a key piece of there core now, but last year opponents would delight in exploiting his slowness and his propensity to foul. Now opponents have to design defensive strategies to stop him when he gets the ball in the post. And he's still got lots of potential.

Marc Gasol- Everybody made fun of this guy at first because of the trade he was involved in, and the fact that he's a little chubby, but looks like people want him now.

The point is, almost every big man with few exceptions frustrates their fanbase the first year or two (or three or four), and some fans don't even know to be frustrated because they never get to see the big man play meaningful minutes. This is a just a reminder to Knicks fans that both Anthony Randolph and Timofey Mozgov are both so young and raw. I still believe that they will both be great (at the very least solid rotation guys) players in a few years. Unless it's a lopsided trade in our favor, we should not be calling for them to be packaged in any trades. They will be a big, big part of the future going forward.