Bulpett And Pitino Praise Potapenko

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

                  Celtics notes

                  Potapenko has altered the Celtic landscape in both obvious
                  and subtle ways.

                  Though Rik Smits scored 28 Sunday, he missed 11 shots and
                  was firing from the outside by the end of the game.

                  ``He didn't want to bang with the big fella,'' said
                  Anderson.

                  Pitino credited the Ukraine Train with a positive effect
                  on the entire defense (the Pacers shot 44 percent).

                  ``The reason we executed so well is that we didn't have to
                  double down,'' Pitino said. ``That's what Vitaly gives us.
                  When we can play our own man, we rebound better, because
                  we're not caught with twos and ones (shooting and point
                  guards) on fours and fives (power forwards and centers).

                  ``Vitaly changes the complexion of this team. That's no
                  slight on Andrew (DeClercq). Andrew was a power forward.''