Pitino Announces The Starting Lineup

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

It's Battie, Walker, McCarty, Mercer, and Anderson....

                                                 
                  Laker fan Pierce vows new allegiance to     
                  Celtics                                   
                  by Steve Bulpett

                  Sunday, January 24, 1999

                  In one of his first acts as a Celtic on the parquet floor,
                  Paul Pierce dredged up a few painful Boston memories.
                  
                  Pierce tried to recreate Magic Johnson's baby hook
                  shot from the 1987 finals and even a Magic off-balance
                  last-second jumper from the left wing to win a key regular
                  season affair.

                  Informed that Magic's hook was a right-handed effort and
                  not the lefty one the rookie tried and hit yesterday,
                  Pierce quickly altered his course.

                 ``Oh, then that was a Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) hook from
                  midway through the game,'' he said, giving the business to
                  general manager Chris Wallace, who was walking through the
                  FleetCenter hallway after the morning practice.
        
                ``Because, you know, Kareem was giving those all game.''

                  Celtic fans should forgive Pierce his Laker affinity, and
                  they certainly will once they see this kid play. He grew
                  up just three blocks from The Forum and even went to
                  Inglewood High. He had no choice.

                  You would no more expect a Celtic fan in those environs
                  than a Laker fan in Charlestown.

                ``It wasn't necessarily that I hated the Celtics,'' Pierce
                  said after the first of two sessions (the second was an
                  open workout last night at New Hampshire College). ``I
                  only hated them when they played the Lakers. I was always
                  a fan of Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Danny Ainge and Kevin
                  McHale. I always liked those guys and respected those guys
                  as players. It's just that when they went against the
                  Lakers I rooted against them.

                 ``So growing up, I was a Laker fan, but, you know, it's
                  business. I'm about the Celtics now.''
 
                  He admits, however, that he won't hesitate to needle his
                  new club on occasion.

                  ``I'm always going to have fun with these guys and let
                  them know that it was still the Lakers in the '80s,''
                  Pierce said with a smile. ``I was just reminiscing a
                  little about how the Lakers came in here back in the day
                  and what they did.''

                  Though he played in the Garden in the Boston Shootout
                  after his senior year in high school, Pierce was surprised
                  to learn that the FleetCenter floor was the same one he'd
                  performed on that time.

                  But he wasn't surprised to learn the court looks better
                  through the eye of a television camera.

                  ``That's how it is in all arenas,'' Pierce said. ``It
                  looks good on TV and then you get up on it and you start
                  feeling all the dead spots. That's all part of it. But
                  it's a good shooting gym. I like it. And you've got to
                  take pride when you come out on that floor.''

                  Pierce made sure he got enough time to do so yesterday.

                  ``I came in the gym early and got a chance to look up at
                  the banners and feel the floor,'' he said. ``It's going to
                  be a lot of fun. I really can't wait to get my first taste
                  of NBA experience.''

                  That first experience will likely be in the role of
                  reserve. Rick Pitino said that while Pierce will have no
                  shortage of minutes, he will probably be on the bench for
                  the opening tip.

                  ``We'll probably start off with (Tony) Battie at 5, 'Toine
                  (Antoine Walker) at 4, Walter (McCarty) at 3, Ron (Mercer)
                  at 2 and Kenny (Anderson) at 1,'' Pitino said. ``And then
                  we've got Paul coming in as the second unit scorer. He's a
                  rookie. He's going to play a lot of minutes, but I don't
                  think he'll necessarily start this year.

                  ``I'm not really looking at him as a starter or
                  non-starter. I'm looking at him as a player. I just know
                  he's going to get a lot of minutes.''

                  McCarty is just taking it as it comes, but he recognizes
                  the talent of the man with whom he'll be sharing a
                  position.

                  ``I know he's going to be in the running for Rookie of the
                  Year,'' McCarty said.

                  ``I know that for a fact.''