This should squash all Pierce rumours - RP already has him pencilled in the starting line up

["Shailendra K Mishra" <skmishra@sprintmail.com>]

It's not enough to listen to Rick Pitino talking about Paul Pierce. You have
to see his face when the rookie's name comes up in conversation. You have to
see Pitino's eyes widen.

Now that he's seen Pierce in person, it's clear he believes the Celtics were
beyond fortunate to have him slip to No. 10 in last June's draft.


``You'd have to have an hour show,'' Pitino said when asked what's impressed
him about Pierce thus far. ``He's one of the more impressive young men I've
ever worked with in my life. First of all, he's much stronger than I
anticipated. He's much more aware of defense than I ever believed.


``This young man is the real deal. He's definitely for real. He's a great,
great draft pick - much better than I ever anticipated.


``Paul Pierce has impressed me, just with his power going to the basket, his
scoring ability - he's physically a very gifted young man. All he needs now
is to learn what he's doing and he's going to be terrific. I'm really
excited about him. You have Pierce on one wing, (Ron) Mercer on the other.
Both guys can score, put it on the floor. (Walter) McCarty's playing
terrific. Popeye (Jones) is a great addition. And Tony Battie is a weight
room away from really being a major factor in our system.''


There were trade rumors involving Pierce this past week, but they came from
other clubs (most notably Cleveland as Wayne Embry has coveted him since the
draft) trying to pry him away. But Pitino said yesterday he doesn't care who
gets offered, Pierce is going nowhere.


Pitino gets defensive


It looks like it's going to be no more Mr. Nice Celtics. Pitino predicts
problems for opponents taking trips to the basket.


``We're trying to develop a defensive philosophy of being a lot tougher both
mentally and physically,'' he said. ``With that, we're just concentrating
most on defense. Our offense is not going to be ready, but we don't care. We
want to build a defensive philosophy. We're trying to set a new tone
physically. We're trying to become a physical basketball team.


``Everybody's hitting. Nobody goes to the rim without being hit.''


Garnett sticks around


Good news for Marlon Garnett: Pitino said he plans no cuts.


The Celtics have 15 contracts, but they will dine on Dontae' Jones' pact,
and Pervis Ellison is still out after ankle surgery. That leaves 13 bodies,
and Pitino said he wants Garnett as a third point guard.


The free tickets for the Celtics' open practices at New Hampshire College in
Manchester (tonight), Worcester Centrum Centre (Thursday) and Providence
Civic Center (Feb. 1) have all been snapped up.


There was no advance ticket distribution for tomorrow's afternoon session at
the FleetCenter. It's first-come first-served, with doors opening at 1 p.m.


Red Auerbach noticed all the Celtic assistants, scouts, etc., and said,
``When I ran a practice, you could shoot pigeons in there. There was nobody
there, no assistants. I was all by myself. I look around here, he's got guys
coming out of his ears. But they run a great practice.