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Considering his largely nontraditional basketball background, natural
athleticism, and underdeveloped physique, Moiso begins his rookie year
as a player with the proverbial ''upside.'' Unlike young Americans with
NBA aspirations, Moiso started planning late for his professional career
and likely will play catch-up as his first season gets under way.

Growing up in Guadeloupe and France, basketball was just one of many
childhood activities for Moiso. Relatively serious training did not
start until he enrolled at the Institute for Sports and Physical
Education in Paris six years ago. Still, the intensity and
single-mindedness with which some players pursue their basketball dreams
in the US remains slightly foreign.

But Moiso understands he now must spend extra time in the weight room
bulking up and on the practice court refining his skills. He expects and
wants coach Rick Pitino to push him. At this early stage, Pitino has
placed a priority on Moiso gaining 15-20 pounds so he can hold his own.

The Celtics selected Moiso with the 11th overall pick in the draft and
officially signed him last Wednesday. He viewed UCLA as the best place
to prepare for the NBA, but never planned to spend four years in
Westwood. After showing his talent to American audiences for two seasons
and posting numbers that attracted NBA teams, Moiso left college early.
Last season, he led the Bruins in blocked shots (55) and rebounding (7.6
per game), including a career-high 14 rebounds against Pacific-10 rival
Arizona. The Celtics hope Moiso eventually can provide a strong
defensive presence inside.

''I'm still picking things up [in the American game] and I'm getting
better on being aggressive,'' said Moiso, addressing one of the concerns
about his play. ''That's the main thing [aggressiveness] that I was
looking for when I came to UCLA. I knew I couldn't come here and be
laid-back. It was hard for me to come here at first and see all these
guys hungry, hungry to beat you. But I came here to play against
aggressive guys and pick up my game.''

Up for a challenge

When Moiso wanted to challenge himself on the court, he crisscrossed the
Atlantic, leaving Guadeloupe for France and then leaving France for the
US. If he had stayed in one place, Moiso never would have earned a
chance to play in the NBA. (''I'm not a person who gets attached too
much, so moving doesn't bother me,'' said Moiso. ''When I have to move,
I just go and it's behind me.'') In the past, each move brought tougher
competition and higher expectations. Moiso knows the move to Boston
means more of the same.

When the Celtics drafted Moiso, he became the first NBA player to call
Guadeloupe home. The small island communities that constitute Guadeloupe
(687 square miles and a population of approximately 344,000) sit in the
eastern Caribbean and are an overseas department of France.

While Guadeloupe has basketball clubs such as the one in Pointre A Pitre
where Moiso was introduced to the game at age 6, the islanders do not
follow the game closely. As a young boy, Moiso was not familiar with the
NBA and developed interests in a number of other sports, dabbling in
ping-pong, soccer, handball, and volleyball. At 9, the distractions of
tropical beaches, lengthy school days, and a disdain for push-ups led
Moiso away from basketball. According to Moiso, no one said anything
about him giving up the sport, though he was tall for his age and
appeared naturally suited to the game.

A fortunate combination of events brought Moiso back to basketball.
Shortly after he stopped playing in Guadeloupe in 1988, Moiso and his
mother, Anick, moved to France for better employment opportunities. At
the same time, the NBA was making a strong push to market the league
overseas and increase its fan base. Moiso caught a glimpse of Michael
Jordan on French television and his interest in basketball was renewed.

''I didn't even know what the NBA was,'' said Moiso. ''I just saw Jordan
play. It was obvious he was playing at 20 percent of his skills, but he
was doing whatever he wanted. After that, I started going back to the
playgrounds, trying to do basketball stuff like he was doing. Seeing
Jordan, I thought, `Basketball can be fun, if you can do that.'''

Moiso returned to Guadeloupe with his mother and rededicated himself to
basketball. He became more familiar with the NBA, reading magazines
about the league when he could find them. His coach at the time, George
Bengaber, was able to receive an occasional Lakers game via satellite
and a whole new world opened up as the two watched Magic Johnson and
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Bengaber saw Moiso's interest and talent and pushed
him, arranging competition with grown men. By the time Moiso was 16, he
had developed enough to draw the attention of French talent recruiters.
He was given the opportunity to attend the selective sports academy in
Paris.

''When I left [Guadeloupe], I wanted to leave because I knew if I didn't
get out I wasn't going to do anything [with basketball] and be able to
play against better players,'' said Moiso. ''I wasn't missing it. I was
happy to go. We had good times down there, but I wanted to find better
competition and better players and somewhere I could get more skills.''

At the sports academy, Moiso again faced older players, former
professionals and college athletes who did not get drafted. It was the
first time Moiso competed against American players and believed he had a
legitimate shot at the NBA. Moiso honed his skills to the point where
top US college programs became interested. Once he visited UCLA, Moiso
knew he had found the perfect fit for the two years he planned to spend
prepping for the NBA. After six games and a semester adapting to
classroom English at Milford (Conn.) Academy, Moiso headed to Westwood.

Part of the attraction to UCLA was pickup games at the Men's Gym with
NBA players. Moiso knew playing in the NBA was just a matter of facing
the best competition and learning from it. He wants to be an impact
player as a professional and believes he possesses the quickness and
athleticism to make his mark. After a set of games at the Men's Gym this
summer, he watched an impromptu slam dunk contest, sitting on the
sideline and smiling. He was saving his legs and some surprises for the
Celtics' season.

''I cannot say I grew up dreaming about playing in the NBA and saying,
`Oh, someday I'll play with this guy,''' said Moiso. ''I might be
nervous my first five minutes, but once I do something that will put me
in the rhythm of the game, I think I can start to play pretty good. I'll
go at it and have a serious game.''

This story ran on page D01 of the Boston Globe on 10/2/2000.
© Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.