Pitino Explains Why Walker Sat and Pervis Started

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

      Walker watches last 12
      Celtics Notebook/by Steve Bulpett 
      Tuesday, November 23, 1999
      It is a measure of how far the Celtics have come that they were able to 
      defeat the Indiana Pacers last night with Antoine Walker in the role of 
      spectator for the final quarter by coach's decision.
      Walker finished with 11 points (5-of-14 shooting), five rebounds and no 
      assists in 29 minutes, staying on the bench when others did the job.
      ``It wasn't anything he was doing wrong,'' said Rick Pitino. ``It's just 
      the other unit was playing great together, and you've got to go with it. 
      Ninety-nine percent of the time you go with Antoine, you go with Kenny 
      (Anderson, who played just 35.5 seconds in the period). But that (second) 
      team was playing great defense, great offense and Dana (Barros) was on 
      fire. We were calling different numbers for him. So we just stuck with 
      those guys.''
      Pervis takes center stage
      For the first time this season, Vitaly Potapenko did not start at center. 
      Pervis Ellison got the call and had four points and five boards in 15 
      minutes (he sat the last 21).
      ``Against everybody, they go to (Rik) Smits almost the first five out of 
      seven possessions,'' Pitino said. ``They go to him right away - almost the 
      first five minutes exclusively. And what happens is we get Vitaly in foul 
      trouble, then we come with Tony (Battie) and he's there too long and 
      doesn't play with our pressing unit. We wanted to start Pervis because 
      he's longer than everybody and we thought he could bother Smits. And 
      Pervis is also very smart defensively.''
      Woozy return
      Calbert Cheaney saw his first action after six games out because of a 
      sprained right ankle. And 46 seconds after coming in, he nearly went back 
      on the shelf. Cheaney collided with Al Harrington, who was called for a 
      foul, in pursuit of a loose ball.
      ``I mean, I don't even remember getting hit,'' Cheaney said. ``I just 
      remember waking up. I do remember shooting the free throws, but the 
      cobwebs were still there though. I think we bumped heads. I think Al . . . 
      it was Al, wasn't it?''
      C's to hold new court
      The Celtics announced last night that they will be playing on a new court 
      in the next millennium. The current parquet will be replaced by a 
      similarly designed floor for the team's Jan. 3 game against Cleveland. 
      Pieces of the old court then will be refurbished and integrated with the 
      new surface.
      The Celts will play their last game on the present court on Dec. 22, and 
      the team will hold a Parquet Memories night with Red Auerbach at that 
      time.
      From the ``Go figure'' department, the club finally admitted there are 264 
      panels in the current court (there are 12 rows of 22 panels). Previously, 
      the Celts have said there were 247 panels. . . .
      Larry Bird said he won't be changing his mind on his decision to leave the 
      Pacers bench. When someone jokingly asked what he would do if Kevin McHale 
      won it all in Minnesota, Larry shot back: ``Well, I won't have to worry 
      about that, will I?''