By Jerry Zgoda

McClatchy Newspapers 

MINNEAPOLIS -- Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis has a name for the kind of player Oleksiy Pecherov is, or is on his way toward becoming.

"The term I use is a parasite," Rambis said.

Let Rambis explain before you get this mental image of some creature that populates gastro-intestinal tracts.

"A lot of guys in the league are parasites," he said. "They survive off the creative ability of other players. Other players collapse defenses and kick the ball out to them, or it's our offense that creates the shot for them. It's not a matter of putting the ball in their hands and they create a shot for us. He's not at that stage."

Oleksiy, a 7-foot Ukrainian forward acquired from Washington in last summer's Randy Foye-Mike Miller trade, has taken advantage of Kevin Love's fractured hand and played his way into the starting lineup after missing training camp and the start of preseason because of a broken wrist.

Wednesday's two-point loss to Boston at Target Center was his coming-out party, with a 24-point, eight-rebound performance that lapped Kevin Garnett's 12-point night in a matchup of power forwards.

"Before this (season), I didn't have a chance to play a lot," said Pecherov, who played 34 minutes Wednesday. "When you get in the game and play a lot, your confidence comes back. You're not rushing your shots. The game just comes to you. It's easy to play like this. When you play just five minutes or three minutes, you rush. You need time to take in the game."

But couldn't Rambis have come up with a cuddlier term?

"No, I was a parasite," Rambis said Thursday as the Wolves prepared for tonight's game against Milwaukee at Target Center. "So if it doesn't bug me, it shouldn't bug anyone else. It probably falls in line with most of the players in the league. They need an offense, some sort of system, or they need other players to create things for them."

Martin hired as aide

The Wolves named former NBA point guard Darrick Martin the team's new assistant director of player development Thursday, an on-court teaching position intended to help young players improve their skills any time of day or night.

Martin played 13 NBA seasons, including parts of three seasons with the Wolves. He played 16 of 18 playoffs games during the Wolves' run to the 2004 Western Conference finals and started the final three games of the conference finals series against the Los Angeles Lakers after starter Sam Cassell was injured.

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