Bulpett On The Celtics Boston Summer League

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

Pitino says Walker, McCarty and others will be playing...
Celts host with the most<BR><EM>by Steve Bulpett</EM>
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      Celts host with the most
      by Steve Bulpett 
      Tuesday, July 6, 1999
      Rick Pitino may only be the second-happiest person in the NBA when it 
      comes to Boston hosting a seven-day pro summer league beginning July 26. 
      Larry Bird probably has him beat.
      While the Celtics coach and president is pleased that he gets the event at 
      home, Shamrock legend and Pacers coach Bird is ecstatic about getting an 
      all-expenses-paid week back in Boston.
      ``I try to get up to Boston to see friends a couple of times, and it's 
      great that they got a summer league worked out for there,'' Bird said.
      In addition to the Celts and Indiana, the Knicks, Nets, 76ers, Wizards, 
      SuperSonics and German Select Team will take part in six days of games 
      (Thursday, July 29 will be an off day) at UMass-Boston.
      The event, co-sponsored by the Boston Herald, will include a free fan 
      festival on the school grounds adjacent to the Clark Athletic Center. 
      Highlighting that portion of the proceedings is the Gatorade NBA Jam, a 
      4,000-foot area of interactive basketball exhibits and games.
      As part of their community outreach program, the Celtics will host several 
      local youth groups at the events, and thousands of tickets for the games 
      will be distributed in the community to such organizations.
      As for the basketball itself, teams will be comprised of players already 
      on rosters, free agents and rookies. In that clubs are coming off a 
      shortened season, one might expect to see a few more veterans than usual 
      on the Clark Center court.
      Teams are allowed to use no more than three players already under contract 
      in a game.
      ``We'll probably have Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty and I'm not sure who 
      else playing,'' Pitino said. ``We really haven't made up our minds yet. 
      What we may do is rotate guys. We may use three veterans in the first 
      three games and another three veterans in the other three.''
      About all Pitino is certain of is that his club's actions this summer will 
      go a long way toward its playoff run next season - and erasing the 
      memories of a queasy post-lockout campaign this past season. After the 
      Celts hoped to make a stab at the postseason, a March slump sent them to a 
      19-31 record.
      ``For us, all these summer leagues are great,'' said Pitino, who will also 
      send a group to Los Angeles for a league July 10-20. ``To have one in 
      Boston makes it that much better.
      ``What we've got this year is the complete opposite of last summer when we 
      had the lockout and we weren't able to interact with our players at all. 
      Now we can do things to get better and use this time to its full benefit.
      ``It was very rewarding for me to look out there (at the Celtics' Waltham 
      practice facility last week) and see Paul Pierce, Bruce Bowen and Antoine 
      Walker working out hard. The more we get to play, the more experience they 
      get and the more they can improve their skills. People may look at this as 
      just summer league games, but they're very important to us in making the 
      improvements we need to make for next season.
      ``Hosting this one is great for us and for our season ticket-holders. 
      We've already mailed them out tickets. I think this will be great for our 
      fans.''
      There will be afternoon and evening sessions consisting of two games each 
      day. The early session begins at 1:30 p.m. and the second at 6 p.m. 
      Tickets are $8 per doubleheader and are available through the FleetCenter 
      box office and TicketMaster. 



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