Projo on Moiso

[Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

Celtics rookie Moiso debuts against Spurs 'Twin Towers'
By KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

(....) Last night at the Worcester Centrum, Moiso made his professional
basketball debut in Boston's 100-80 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. He
couldn't have picked a tougher scenario. First of all, the last few days
of his life have been a whirlwind. On Tuesday, he flew to Barbados to
pick up a work visa. His student visa expired once he left UCLA and he
never got around to securing his work papers. He says his teammates only
rolled their eyes when they found out the rookie would be leaving
training camp for an exotic locale.

"They were thinking about me being on vacation, getting a tan while they
were in two-a-days practice," he said.

Moiso returned home late Wednesday night and played last night. The
Celtics' opponents? Only San Antonio, and its two future Hall of Fame
big men David Robinson and Tim Duncan. Moiso grew up in Paris and
Guadeloupe and didn't have posters of NBA stars on his walls. But he did
know of Robinson.

"One of the first guys I read about as a kid was David Robinson," he
said. "Tonight, I talked to him at the free throw line. Now it's about
getting ready to play against him, not just say 'that's the guy I used
to read about.' "

Moiso played just two seasons at UCLA but it's easy to see why the
Celtics are so high on him. Although he's physically weak and not a low
post offensive threat yet, he is already the team's best shot-blocker
and is a very good defensive rebounder. Last night, he rarely matched up
with either Duncan or Robinson. Instead, he handled the ball at the high
post on offense and shadowed someone else on defense. He finished with 9
points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks in 24 minutes.

"I played OK," he said. "It wasn't the greatest game I could've had but
I defended myself all right."

Asked about his shotblocking skills, Moiso said, "That's one thing I can
do. I just need a defensive mind every game."

Surprisingly, the Spurs did not eat up the Celtic big men. Robinson (17
minutes, 10 points) played sparingly and Duncan (25 minutes, 11 points)
wasn't involved much in the offense. For the second straight night, the
Celtics allowed their opponent to shoot over 50 percent (54 percent)
from the field and the Spur perimeter players easily out-played the
Celtics. Antoine Walker led the Celts with 22 points, 20 in the first
half.

Pitino clearly likes Moiso's talent. He said he's pleasantly suprised by
Moiso's shooting touch from 15 feet and it's clear he's more active than
veteran Tony Battie. If Moiso progresses quickly, he could steal minutes
away from both Battie and Walter McCarty.

"He's a very gifted young man. As far as physical talent he's as good as
it gets," Pitino said. "The problem is he has not learned much
defensively as far as professional defense. He's not going to stop his
man from catching the ball or clear people out in the post. Those are
things he needs to learn to play at this level."