I'm going to try real hard not to get on a guy who has been thrust into more minutes than anyone would have liked… in a new system that's hard to pick up… without the best defender on the team to help him out.
BUT…
Mikki Moore has got to play smarter.
I'm willing to look past missed defensive assignments because I know he's trying and, like I said, it's tough to pick up this defensive scheme so quickly with a patchwork squad. I'll let him slide on missed rotations and not showing on pick and rolls. That all will come.
But a team thin on height that's now missing two bigs… Mikki Moore just CAN'T keep fouling like he has. It's got to stop. Jess Camerato notes today:
Over the last five games, he has been whistled for a league-leading total of 26 personal fouls.
“I’m playing aggressive, trying to do the right thing, and most of my calls are just touch fouls,” Moore said after the game. “That’s why I’m frustrated. But a foul is a foul. I have to make my fouls count.”
Moore explains there is a difference between a good foul and a bad foul. He should know. He led the NBA with 310 personal fouls during the 2008 season.
Yes, you have to make your fouls count Mikki… when we're at full strength. Right now, you have to make your minutes count. Besides, you can't learn this system when you're on the bench.
Again, I know he's working hard and I know it's going to take time for him to pick things up…. but that doesn't excuse the fouls. Those have to stop. Right now, we need minutes out Moore, more than anything else.
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