Utah Jazz: Kyrylo Fesenko goes to the video to try and find improvement

LOS ANGELES — Jerry Sloan called Kyrylo Fesenko "pretty much nonexistent" in Game 1, and you wouldn't get much arguing from the big Ukrainian.

Fesenko agreed with that assessment, especially after spending time watching game film.

A disappointed Fesenko was determined to improve from his two-point, one-rebound outing Sunday, so he ordered some video you won't find on Netflix — Game 1 vs. the Lakers and the third and fourth games of the Denver series.

"I compare them," Fesenko said, "just to see what I'm doing wrong."

And his review?

Fes didn't exactly give his first L.A. performance two thumbs up.

"I was way more active. I was tougher," Fesenko said about the Denver series. "I was trying to finish the contact, and I think that's the key. That's what I need to do."

Fesenko was noticeably more aggressive early on in Game 2 Tuesday, even matching his previous game's rebounding total in the first two minutes.

But Fesenko's energy was a bit unbridled, reminiscent of an untamed bucking bronco. That was especially the case when he handled the ball. He missed three inside shots and two free throws in the early going, but mixed one dunk into his wildness to put Utah up 5-4. By the end of the first half, Fesenko had missed four of five attempts while chipping in three boards and a blocked shot.

Improvement on some levels for him, but not nearly enough to impact the game that quickly became a blowout.

It wasn't near enough to help him achieve his toughman objective coming in, either

"That's basically my goal — be much more active," he said at Tuesday morning's shootaround, "and give Lakers more pain in the paint."

If he does that, maybe then he'll also get Kobe Bryant to notice his unexpected contributions and the Laker star will start muttering his name, "Fesenko? Fesenko?" like Carmelo Anthony did in the series with Denver.

Fesenko laughed at the notion after shootaround: "That's my goal, too."

Sloan's goal for the raw 23-year-old, who's filling in as the starting center in injured Mehmet Okur's place, is simply to have Fesenko play like a 7-foot-1, 300-pounder.

"One of the things you've got to do is rebound the ball and try to be a bigger presence," Sloan said. "He's a big man, but he's got to have a bigger presence in there whenever he's trying to defend."

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