Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
Halloween is one of those holiday that everyone loves ... including NBA players.
In this FanHouse exclusive, we catch up with NBA stars Amar'e Stoudemire, Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Ron Artest, Kyrylo Fesenko, Channing Frye, Craig Smith, Goran Dragic and Lou Amundson.
Find out who is most likely to be Hugh Hefner, Magic Don Juan, a lumberjack, Frankenstein and an Army vet.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
The Utah Jazz are among the best teams in the NBA, but for some reason people tend to leave them out when it comes to talking about the best of the west. In this video we ask the players about their low-key profile. We also find out from All-Star Andrei Kirilenko why he has a welcoming dog and not a watch dog, and we audition Kyrylo Fesenko as a reporter.
After missing the first six games of the season with a sprained ankle, Deron Williams is expected to make his season debut tonight. It's not clear how many minutes he's going to play, but considering the Jazz turned the ball over 20 times in an embarrassing loss to the Knicks on Sunday, the team will appreciate his steady presence for any length of time.
Unfortunately, Williams' return doesn't mean the Jazz will finally be at full-strength: Mehmet Okur left the team on Monday to return to his native Turkey due to his father's illness. There's currently no timetable for his return.
This opens the door for for funny-manKyrylo Fesenko to slide into the starting lineup, right? Not so fast. As it turns out, he's out of the country, as well, traveling to Toronto to resolve a visa issue. All of a sudden, the lone remaining option seems to be giving 19-year-old rookie Kosta Koufos, who's played all of seven minutes this year, the start tonight in Philadelphia.
At 2-4, the Sixers are still finding their way after their big moves this summer, but Elton Brand and Samuel Dalembert have combined for over 22 boards a game so far. Things could get ugly.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
In this exclusive video we talk to 7-foot center Kyrylo Fesenko of the Utah Jazz. 'Fes' as he is known, is a one-of-a-kind individual whose teammates absolutely love. The reason? He keeps them smiling. We talk to 'Fes' about his creepy-funny Halloween costume, why every big man in the NBA wants to be a point guard and the best big men in the league. We also hear from All-Stars Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko and Jarron Collins.
"He's got a long way to go to make himself a better player," Sloan said. "He has skills, but sometimes the outside things will take you right out of this game. If those things are more important than basketball, that's where you get in trouble."
"A lot of people have skills," Sloan added. "A lot of them are sitting on the sidewalk wondering what happened 20 years ago when they had a chance. He's got to figure out what he wants to do and play basketball or be a clown."
Ooh, harsh! This might be derived from other Fesenko maturity issues (there's an allusion to a short attention span and more than one tardy arrival to practice), but that doesn't make curmudgeonly old Sloan's connection between a peroxide kit and unsavory personality traits any less funny.
But maybe Sloan has a point. This could -- at least in part -- explain Darko.
Orlando has been slip, slip, slipping the past couple weeks. From the top of several prominent power rankings to getting destroyed by Paul Millsap at home. (I told you Millsap could ball!) Stan Van Gundy thinks the problem is deeper than any winning streak -- he spent his post-game presser lashing out at his team playing soft. Here's the snippet ESPN showed:
Is he right? I'd hardly say Dwight Howard doesn't come to pound every time out, but Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis don't have reputations of being particularly physical. Utah is very physical. If Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams aren't enough for you, Millsap and occasionally Kyrylo Fesenko come in off the bench -- and all those dudes do is punch you in the mouth. If SVG saw some reluctance to bang last night, it was likely exaggerated by Utah's singular roughness.
But when you build a team of shooters around one rock, isn't this sort of problem to be expected? You think you've solved it by getting tall shooters (Hedo and Shard), but tall does not equal physical.
Following today's announcement that the Jazz have signed second-round pickKyrylo Fesenko to a three-year contract, Rafael Araujo's departure from Utah seems cemented in stone. Of course, the Jazz have still extended an invitation to training camp to the unrestricted free agent, but he doesn't sound too inclined to accept. From the Deseret Morning News:
Unless the Jazz make a trade that changes their inside lineup, [Araujo's agent Jim] McDowell considers it "unlikely" that Araujo will be in that Jazz camp come October, where the agent assumes his client would be more injury protection for the Jazz than a viable candidate for a roster spot. "It makes sense to look elsewhere," he said.
[...] McDowell said even if another NBA team offered Araujo what looked like a No. 12 spot on its roster, he might instead opt to play in Europe just to get on the court enough to further his career. "That might not be an optimal situation" for him, the agent said of an NBA end-of-the-bench job. "It would not help his career." McDowell assumes that minutes on the court this season, even if they're in Europe, will put Araujo "in a stronger position than he is now" to seek another NBA deal.
Araujo need to be careful, because unless he really tears things up in Europe it might be hard for him to get back into the NBA -- even if he's not playing, he might just want to stockpile those NBA paychecks for as long as he can keep getting them. Either way, it's been a long, long three years since he was the eighth overall pick in the 2004 draft, ahead of guys like Andre Iguodala, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith and Kevin Martin -- not to mention fellow Brazilian Anderson Varejao.
Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 28th NBA Draft.
The Pistons are at a crossroads. With just one NBA title to show after five trips to the Conference Finals, they're now one of the league's oldest teams in a division with two of the league's up-and-coming-est teams (the Bulls and Cavs).
To re-tool on the fly and preserve their place among the league's true contenders, the team needs to get younger and more athletic -- and soon. Fortunately, they have two first-round picks: the 15th (courtesy of the Magic) as well as the 27th.
Needs: Pretty much everything but power forward. The team hasn't had a legitimate backup point guard in years, and considering there's at least a chance Chauncey Billups leaves, they might be in need of a starter. Following the Carlos Delfino trade, the team could use a swingman to backup Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince -- though there's always a chance Joe Dumars plans to address that need via free agency (Grant Hill? Morris Peterson?).
Oh, and a starting center would be nice, considering Chris Webber isn't expected to return and the only other option currently on the roster is Nazr Mohammed.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos. 
The Utah Jazz are among the best teams in the NBA, but for some reason people tend to leave them out when it comes to talking about the best of the west. In this video we ask the players about their low-key profile. We also find out from All-Star Andrei Kirilenko why he has a welcoming dog and not a watch dog, and we audition Kyrylo Fesenko as a reporter.
After missing the first six games of the season with a sprained ankle, 
TrueHoop 
Following today's announcement that the 
Crystal Ballin'
