Nets' Moore does a job on Wolves

With defense sorely lacking, Minnesota let the rail-thin 7-footer turn in a performance worthy of an All-Star.

By Steve Aschburner, Star Tribune

Last update: December 30, 2006 - 11:00 PM

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Marcus Williams, a New Jersey Nets rookie, had a good two seconds to aim a wide-open three-pointer, no Timberwolves defender taking even a step toward him in the third quarter. Which was fine, considering Williams' 26 percent success rate from the arc.

But then inexplicably, inexcusably, they somehow let big man Mikki Moore grab the rebound and go up, an all-too-common transgression in their 100-92 loss to the Nets on Saturday night at Continental Airlines Arena.

The Wolves let Moore do a lot, all game long, while losing a game that was there for the taking. That, of course, would have required a little assertiveness, a wee bit of intensity, on a night when the visitors showed none.

"We didn't have the focus and the energy we needed in the first quarter, and we were playing catch-up the rest of the night," coach Dwane Casey said. "Rebounding was somewhere where we were worried the mental toughness would show. Allowing Mikki Moore to come in and pound us -- I think he scored on every offensive board."

The good news coming in was that the Wolves (13-15) were wrapping up their third and final cluster in 2006-07 of four games in five nights, as demanding as the NBA schedule gets these days. The bad news coming out was that they succumbed to the grind and blew a chance to finish calendar 2006 as a .500 team.

Defensively deficient, they turned Moore, a rail-thin, 31-year-old 7-footer from Nebraska, into a swamplands folk hero worthy of a Springsteen song. He scored a career-high 20 points on 9-for-9 shooting and grabbed five of his eight rebounds on Nets' misses.

Later, Moore was a media darling, reminiscing about his month-long stay with the Wolves in their 1997 training camp.

"Kevin McHale [Wolves VP of basketball operations] pulled me into the office and told me, 'You have the talent but it's a numbers thing,' " said Moore, who had gone undrafted that June. "These are his exact words, he told me, 'You'll make it on a team, because being 7-foot, being able to run down the court and chewing gum at the same time, you'll have a job.' "

Nine years and seven NBA teams later, Moore did a job on the Wolves, who barely did their jobs at all at one end. They allowed New Jersey to make 52.6 percent of their shots.

Assistant coach Bob Ociepka made it sound like the Wolves can grasp only one set of defensive concepts at a time. They struggled against Toronto's pick-and-roll Wednesday, drilled on that at practice Thursday and did well against Seattle Friday. But New Jersey doesn't play that way.

"They run more of that Princeton offense," Ociepka said. "The way they run their pick-and-rolls, the spacing is different than conventional stuff. They have big guys out on the wings. Normally, our bigs help each other -- one 'shows,' the other helps and supports. Now you've got a big on the wing, so that [second] guy can't help."

New Jersey led 21-16 after a listless first quarter, then outscored the Wolves 31-30 in the second. Jason Kidd's three-pointer to start the fourth gave the Nets their biggest lead, 75-66. Then Kevin Garnett sat down for 3:47, during which time the Wolves missed four of five shots, had two turnovers and fell behind by 13.

"I don't think it's a huge gap," Garnett said, when asked where the Wolves are defensively compared to where they want to be. But he added, "I think as far as consistency, there's a little wedge."

Steve Aschburner • saschburner@startribune.com

Recent Timberwolves stories

Mavs win in dramatic OT with Nowitzki fallaway - December 30, 2006

Mavs win in dramatic OT with Nowitzki fallaway - • DALLAS 115, MILWAUKEE 113 (OT): Dirk Nowitzki hit a fallaway 18-footer as time expired in overtime to give the visiting Mavericks a victory over the Bucks on Monday night. With 3.1 seconds left, Nowitzki caught a pass from Jason Kidd, who finished a point short of a triple-double, and threw it up over Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. The ball rattled off the rim and backboard, dropping through the hoop as the backboard lights came on. The play was reviewed but counted. Nowitzki had 32 points and 11 rebounds. Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. More

Comments are temporarily unavailable

Our reader comments feature is currently undergoing maintenance. Please check back to comment on this story and join the discussion. We apologize for any inconvenience.