Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 21

February 12th, 2010

In order to spice things up a bit, the next few players will be addressed by anagram only.

– Mend Arse Form

Desmon Farmer is in the D-League, trying to find one more NBA call-up from somewhere. In 29 games for the Reno Bighorns, Farmer is averaging 41 minutes, 24.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, so those numbers certainly support his candidacy. However, his manner of doing so is less so; Farmer tends to dominate the ball, is not especially efficient at it (3.7 turnovers per game), shoots too much (42%) and has been seen to pout when he doesn’t. In trying to prove that he’s more than just a catch-and-shoot player, he has inadvertently proved that he’s mainly a catch-and-shoot player.

Still, it’s a hell of a lot of points. And on the plus side, after initially not winning a spot despite his numbers, Farmer has been named as an injury replacement to the D-League All-Star game. He, Romel Beck, Brian Butch, Joe Crawford, Curtis Jerrells and Diamon Simpson replace Alexis Ajinca, Anthony Tolliver, Dontell Jefferson, Antonio Anderson, Sundiata Gaines and Joey Dorsey.

– I Faze Knacks

Nick Fazekas is signed with Dijon in France, where he has averaged 12.3 points and 7.8 rebounds in 25 minutes per game for Dijon. However, he has not played since the end of November due to injury. Sports24.com has more:

Coup dur pour Dijon. Touché à une cheville, Nick Fazekas est out pour trois mois. L’intérieur américain va devoir passer sur la table d’opération. Ancien de Dallas et des Clippers en NBA (26 matches, 4,1 pts), Nick Fazekas est arrivé cet été en Bourgogne. La JDA s’est mise en quête d’un pigiste médical pour pallier son absence.

Indeed.

– Herpes Feet

A lot of people didn’t know who Sonics draft pick Peter Fehse was a couple of months ago. However, they soon learnt after his draft rights were traded for Matt Harpring and Eric Maynor. At the time, this website’s player page for Peter Fehse appeared second in a Google search for Fehse’s name, and, given that it was one of the few that’s actually been written, people wanting to learn about Peter Fehse used it as a means of doing so. Because of this, Peter Fehse became the most viewed profile page on this website. Good times.

(It’s now second to Sarunas Jasikevicius. I’ve been meaning to find out why that is.)

Fehse’s season last year was, inevitably, cut short by injury. He has battled injuries since the day he was drafted, and they are the reason he never developed as a prospect. In fact, he’s been set so far back in recent years that he’s now with a club in the German third division; the BSW Sixers. BSW, coached by recently retired former Mississippi State guard Chuck Evans, are 7-7 in the Regionaliga North, which ranks two rungs below the Bundesliga. Stats are unavailable, but he scored 13 points in their last game.

– I, Noel, Flex

Noel Felix, now 28, is much the same player he was when he was 24. He is currently plying his athletic trade in the D-League, where he averages 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.2 fouls and 0.9 blocks in 21 minutes per game for the Maine Red Claws. He has not taken a three all season, but he still runs like hell.

– Fouls Recently

NC State’s Courtney Fells went to summer league with the Orlando Magic, where he shot 14% and committed eight turnovers in 53 minutes. He then moved to Cyprus, where he is signed with Proteas EKA AEL Limassol. If you’ve been following this series of posts you will know that there’s no Cyprish statistics available – as well as the fact that I’m trying to avoid using the word Cypriot for no reason whatsoever – but we do have Fells’ EuroChallenge numbers. In nine games there, Fells is averaging 9.9 points and 2.2 rebounds, with 89 points scored on 94 shots.

– Advertise Info

Bucks draft pick Andrei Fetisov is retired from basketball. He was last time we covered. And the time before that. He’s been retired since February 2007. We probably won’t cover him again.

– Leafy Chime

After leaving UCLA in 2006, Michael Fey has spent two years in China and one in Jordan. Before that, in 2006, he appeared on the Lakers summer league roster. He must have left some kind of lasting impression, because three years later, the Lakers brought him into training camp to (ostensibly) fight for a roster spot. He didn’t make it – he was never going to make it – but Fey’s return to America and subsequent trip to the D-League are quite the departure from a man previously doing the Samaki Walker Tour Of The Far East. Assigned to the Lakers’ affiliate, the D-Fenders, Fey is averaging 12.1 points and 6.2 rebounds in 24 minutes per game.

– Infirm, If Naked

Nebraska product Kimani Ffriend is signed in Cyprus, and, as described earlier, there are no statistics available for Cyprianic basketball. All I can tell you is that Ffriend has scored 36 points in Apollon’s last two games. And that when you translate his name into Greek and back again, it comes out as “Fred.”

– Snivelled Face

Pittsburgh graduate Levance Fields went undrafted, despite his decent Khalid El-Amin impression to end last season. After pairing up with Fells at Orlando’s summer league, he moved to Russia, where he signed with Spartak St Petersburg. There, he averages 13.7 points and 3.9 assists per game (6th in the league) in the Russian league, alongside 8.9 points and 4.5 assists (8th) in the EuroCup. Fields exploded for a 36-point outing in the Russian league on December 11th, shooting 13-16 in only 35 minutes, but he’s scored only 15 points on 30 shots in the four games since.

By the way, Khalid El-Amin currently leads the Ukraine in assists.

– Fish Record

West Virginia graduate and former Bobcat D’Or Fischer is spending a second season with Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Maccabi fans are a fickle bunch sometimes, and they (or at least, those that I know) seem to be clamouring for Fischer’s release. His numbers are down from last year, which isn’t helping. But his numbers aren’t bad; 6.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.0 blocks in 20 minutes per game in the Israeli league, alongside 6.3/4.5/1.3/1.5 in 18 mpg in the EuroLeague. I think the fan’s problem is more to do with the fact that he’s American.

– Cradle Fight

Gerald Fitch led the Turkish league in scoring last season, and by quite a long way as well. He averaged 28.2 points per game (albeit in only half the season) and has since left Turkey to go to Spain. Playing for Fuenlebrada, Fitch is averaging 20.4 points in only 28.8 minutes per game, alongside 4.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds. The 20.4 ppg leads the league, which means that Fitch has now led both the Turkish and Spanish leagues in scoring in consecutive seasons. Even if he has to chuck a bit to do it, how much more can a man do?

Finally….

– Racism Furze

Marcus Fizer was a member of Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the 2007-08 season, but popped his knee out (again) before the season ended. He was under contract to Maccabi for the 2008-09 season as well, but missed the start of the season recovering from the knee injury and was waived in January as a part of the regime change. He played in only two games. Fizer then spent last summer in Puerto Rico, where he averaged 16 points and 5 rebounds. He hasn’t played anywhere since then, but last week he signed in Puerto Rico for their next upcoming season, joining Guaynabo. His team mate there will be Antoine Walker.

Antoine Walker and Marcus Fizer on the same team. That’s a team that just got interesting.

(A furze is a type of shrub.)