Warriors back off signing center Kyrylo Fesenko (original) (raw)

The Warriors on Friday decided not to sign free-agent center Kyrylo Fesenko, leaving a roster spot open to potentially sign another guard.

The fifth-year, 7-foot-1, 288-pounder and the Warriors had agreed to the terms of a one-year deal worth $1.07 million on Tuesday. He was in Oakland on Wednesday and ran through some drills, but a Warriors official said the team later "decided to go in another direction."

That direction is unclear, but it might be to add guard depth since point guard Stephen Curry has right ankle issues and shooting guard Monta Ellis will be in Mississippi for the funeral of his grandmother for an unspecified amount of time.

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Plus, the Warriors have liked what they've gotten out of centers Andris Biedrins and Kwame Brown. The duo is averaging seven points and 12 rebounds, and power forwards David Lee and Ekpe Udoh have played well in stints at center.

"You can tell how much of an impact they have on games by just clogging up the middle and grabbing rebounds," Curry said. "They might not get a lot of blocked shots, but their presence changes a lot of things. It takes a lot of pressure off your defense if those guys can rebound and seal the deal, and they're doing that. They're a reason our defense has been the way it is."

Zone of silence: The Warriors have limited their past two opponents (Chicago and New York) to an average of 42.5 points on 35.9 percent shooting in the second half, partly because of long stints using a zone defense.

Coach Mark Jackson said he used to suggest using a zone defense when he was a player. During 17 NBA seasons, he played for Larry Brown, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan and Lenny Wilkens.

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"They'd look at me like I had just spoken a foreign language, but it really throws teams off and gets them out of sync," Jackson said. "We're a man-to-man, hard-working, intense defensive team. We don't want to lose that as our identity, but the zone does give different looks and throw teams off."

Jackson II to transfer: Mark Jackson II, the oldest of the coach's four children, said he will transfer from Louisville to play somewhere closer to his family in Southern California. The redshirt freshman guard averaged four minutes a game this season after missing most of last year with a left knee injury.

Dec 31, 2011

Cal Athletics Beat Reporter

Rusty Simmons has worked at the San Francisco Chronicle as a reporter since 2002, when he moved to the Bay Area from Texas — via Washington, D.C., Seattle and Germany. He covered prep sports and then Cal football and basketball before assuming the Golden State Warriors beat in 2009. Along with regularly breaking news and putting creative spins on big-issue stories within the Cal athletics beat, Rusty spends his offseasons writing human-interest features on the Bay Area sports landscape.