Herald: Pierce to play, Pervis too

[opi@unesco.org]

Steve Bulpett reports that Pierce practiced yesterday and will play
tonight against Cleveland, which has scored over 100 in the past four
games. He also reports that Pitino is experimenting with Barros at
shooting guard and Overton at point on the second unit (presumably until
Cheaney comes back from injury). Also, Pervis will probably finally get
a look.


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Celtics Notebook/by Steve Bulpett
Wednesday, November 17, 1999

 The scouting report on Paul Pierce has been adjusted to include
``recovers well.''
    One day after coach Rick Pitino was offering a poor prognosis for
Pierce's strep throat, the guard was back practicing yesterday. He will
play tonight against Cleveland.
    ``Paul is surprising,'' Pitino said. ``We thought at least he'd miss
this next game, but the wonders of penicillin for what he has. He came
back (yesterday) and he feels good, which makes me feel very good. I was
getting sick . . . thinking about playing without him.''
    Pierce didn't look the picture of health, bundled up with coat and
hat to battle the temperatures, but he was downplaying the matter.
    ``It was just a little sore throat,'' he said. ``Nothing too bad.
Not enough to keep me out. I feel a lot better. I really felt bad
(Monday), but I rested up all day and I'm better.''
    Asked how much he can play, Pierce said: ``That's coach's decision.
I went through practice real good and didn't really feel any weakness,
so I should be good to go.''

Passing bears results
    It seems fairly clear that the Celtics can be a good team if they
move the ball - and that they can be underachievers if they don't. It's
simple stuff.
    ``It's a matter of not understanding what you want,'' said Pitino,
breaking down the problems in the last few games. ``It's inexperience.
You watch Miami, they always pass. Indiana always passes. It's a
consistent part of the good teams' offense. It doesn't break down.
They're always looking for pass before shot.
    ``I think that's just a matter of experience. Young players rush.
Young players think shot before pass. The experienced teams always think
pass before shot.''
    And those teams know when to shoot.
    ``We haven't been able to get over 100 points in a few games,
primarily because we haven't been taking high percentage shots,'' said
Pitino, whose team averaged 106.5 points in the first four games and
87.6 in the last three. ``You can run, but you've got to run and take
the highest percentage shot. We broke all our shots down into
percentages off each play, and - this has been true for the 18 years
that I've been a head coach - when you take a challenge shot (with a
defender close), you shoot below 30 percent. When you take an
unchallenged shot, you shoot anywhere from 45 to 55 percent, depending
on your talent. And that hasn't changed, regardless of what level you're
at.''
    The point - at both ends of the floor - has been hammered home
regularly to limited result.
    ``I think we're like 30 or 40 percent better than last year,''
Pitino said. ``I know it's very easy to sit back and say, `God, how
obvious can it be? You show them on film and you point it out
statistically, why don't you get it?' Well, bad habits are tough to
break. You're a product of your habits.
    ``It's almost like a golf swing. If you're swinging incorrectly, you
get with a golf pro and all of a sudden you start swinging the proper
way. Then you leave the golf pro and you go back to your bad habits.
    ``Well, we've got to constantly stay with it. If we pass the
basketball and we take high percentage shots, in our offense we will
shoot a high percentage. If we don't, we'll shoot like we did against
Chicago and get beat.''

Switch a possibility

    Seeking to get more scoring from the reserves, the Celts looked at
moving Dana Barros to shooting guard and Doug Overton in as the point.
The two would reverse roles on defense.
    Calbert Cheaney is still hopeful for a Friday return from his
sprained right ankle.
    Cleveland was in triple figures in scoring in the last four games
and won 28 of its last 29 when reaching the century mark.

Ellison may be in line for play increase: C's seek defensive front

Pervis Ellison played just seven minutes in the last two weeks, kept
bench-bound by coach's decision in three of the last four Celtics games.
But the phone should be ringing down at his end of the pine a little
more.
    Having recognized the need for a backstop for an increasingly porous
defense, coach Rick Pitino said yesterday he plans to dust off Ellison
and see what he can provide.
    ``We don't have shot blockers, so we're never going to erase our
defensive mistakes,'' Pitino said after yesterday's practice in
preparation for tonight's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the
FleetCenter.
    ``Now Pervis can be a shot blocker and he's starting to get himself
in good shape and that can help us,'' Pitino said.
    ``That's true,'' Ellison said of the shot blocking role. ``I think
you look at most teams in the NBA and they have some guys with that type
of capability. And you look at us and our strength is in our quickness
and our ability to defend and not let people get in the lane.
    ``But unfortunately that's been happening, so we've been working on
trying to deny dribble penetration so you wouldn't notice our
deficiencies on defense.''
    To notice Ellison at all lately, one has had to look at the bench.
After playing a total of 19 minutes in the first two games, the only
time he sniffed the hardwood in the last five games was when Vitaly
Potapenko got into foul trouble in the Celtics' 115-108 loss to the
Pacers in Indiana on Nov. 6.
    ``I think one good thing is that the lines of communication have
been open between coach and I,'' Ellison said. ``So it's not like I've
been sitting there and wondering what in the hell's going on. That
hasn't been the case at all.
    ``Now there's a situation where he's actually said to me he's going
to utilize me more, so I can only do what I can with the time I get.''
    After Ellison sat for the third straight game on Saturday in Chicago
when the Celtics lost to the previously winless Bulls, Pitino said it
was a matter of keeping his player rotation at a reasonable number and
not having a place for Ellison at that time.
    ``I agree with that,'' Ellison said. ``I think it's a situation
where we got off to a good start and the rotations we were using were
working well. And they still are working well. Unfortunately we didn't
come ready to play in a couple of ballgames and it cost us. So I think
coach is more in tune with putting guys out there who are ready to play
in that particular situation.
    ``And if that means it's going to put me out there, then so be it.''

    Being 32 has given him a good measure of understanding in the ways
of the NBA.
    ``I've been around long enough to know it's a long season,'' Ellison
said. ``You've got to be ready. And besides that point, you get paid to
do a job, whether it's on the court during a game or out here during
practice. That's how I look at it.
    ``I think it's just a matter of being comfortable on the basketball
court. And I feel like I've been going through it for a pretty good
stretch this season and I feel OK.''
    The simple fact that he is on the practice floor each day, running
up and down and engaging in hoop activity is a welcome occurrence for a
player who has been limited by various injuries to just 39 games in the
past three seasons.
    ``Oh, yeah, I go to bed every day happy,'' Ellison said. ``There's
no anger in this body. `I just come in every day and put forth the work,
and it's going to pay off sooner or later.''