Peter May on More Of Mercer's Missed Practice

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

                 [The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]

                 [Boston Globe Online / Sports]

                 Mercer: At last minute, practice plan fell apart
                 By Peter May, Globe Staff, 12/11/98

                 Another day, another ''intense practice session''
                 scheduled at Brandeis. And another no-show. For
                 the second straight day, Ron Mercer's advertised two-hour
                 workout with his fellow Celtics never came off.

                 There was no sign of Mercer, any Celtic, or any expensive
                 sport utility vehicle. But Mercer did check in to
                 apologize.

                ''I had everything organized, and the guys were going to
                 come, but at the last minute, they didn't show and it all
                 blew up in my face,'' he said in a telephone interview.
                 ''I'll take the blame. I was trying to do something right
                 and I'm going to still keep trying. We'll see if we can
                 get the guys together next week.''

                 Mercer said he originally had commitments from ''eight or
                 nine'' players, but as the day approached, he said,
                 ''only a handful'' were expected to show. He said he
                 simply wanted to remind the fans that the Celtics were
                 alive and well, lockout or no lockout, and that the
                 players want to play.

                ''This time,'' he said, ''it didn't work.

                 The Globe and other media outlets had been alerted to the
                 two days of workouts by the Terrie Williams Agency, a New
                 York public relations firm. The firm said Mercer was
                 holding the sessions ''to help prevent the Celtics from
                 losing their collective rhythm.''

                 PETER MAY

                 This story ran on page C02 of the Boston Globe on
                 12/11/98.
                 © Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company.