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Globe/Herald: Battie, Fortson, and Adrian Griffin News
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
Griffin's number comes up
CBA swingman gets shot with Celtics
By Marvin Pave, Globe Staff, 10/16/99
PROVIDENCE - He wore basketball
uniform No. 44 back in high
school. But when Adrian Griffin got to
Seton Hall, that number had been retired
in honor of Nick Werkman, who led the NCAA
in scoring in 1962-63 and was a
fifth-round draft choice by the Celtics in
1964.
When Griffin advanced to the Continental
Basketball Association's Connecticut Pride
three years ago, ''It was whatever jersey
they had. You just picked one,'' he said.
Now, as a Celtics rookie, the
6-foot-5-inch swingman has No. 44 on his
back once again. That number was once worn
by a fellow named Danny Ainge, who
collected a couple of championship rings.
''The Celtics gave me a list of the
numbers and said these numbers are
available. I saw 44 and thought, `Are you
serious?' I immediately picked it, and I
was grateful to get it. I loved that
number at Wichita [Kan.] East High,'' said
Griffin.
But it's the consistent numbers the
Celtics hope to get out of Griffin that
will be more important than the one on his
back. Griffin, who was the CBA's Most
Valuable Player in both the regular season
and the playoffs last season when he
helped lead the Pride to the title, suited
up for his second exhibition game last
night. Unfortunately for Griffin, coach
Rick Pitino kept him on the bench
throughout the Celtics' 104-79 win over
Atlanta at the Civic Center.
''The key is to work hard and do what you
can to help on the court and not worry too
much about stats,'' said Griffin, a Big
East Basketball Scholar-Athlete Award
winner. After leaving Seton Hall in 1996,
Griffin played professionally in Italy in
the summer of 1998 and played for Atlantic
City (where he was the USBL player of the
year).
Celtics associate coach Jim O'Brien said,
''He did great in the CBA last year. When
we were looking to put together a team
last summer to go out to Long Beach, Leo
Papile and Chris Wallace said this was one
of the people we wanted to look at.''
The question O'Brien wanted answered was,
''Is he tall enough and quick enough to
succeed at the NBA level?''
''My initial reaction was, frankly,
probably not, and I said that to coach
[Pitino],'' said O'Brien. ''But coach
said, `Let's wait and see how he does out
in LA,' where we played eight games in
nine days.''
O'Brien waited and watched and changed his
mind, recommending that Griffin, who
averaged 12.4 points and shot .621 from
the field in Los Angeles, be signed as a
free agent. Griffin also stood out with
the local contingent in the Shaw's Pro
Summer League in Boston, averaging 15.2
points and a team-best 5.2 rebounds per
game.
''Adrian has some things to learn, like
weak-side defense and adjusting to bigger
and quicker players. And it'll take a few
games for him to feel more comfortable.
But he does all the little things right,''
said O'Brien. ''He doesn't turn the
basketball over. He scores very
efficiently without a lot of hoopla. He
defends, he communicates, and he's a
winner.''
Griffin was frustrated last fall when the
lockout prevented him from making an
impression at an NBA camp. Griffin said
his latest opportunity represents ''a long
stride'' over the past year.
''I'm grateful to be here and to be part
of the Boston Celtics family,'' he said.
''I know they scouted a lot of our games
in the CBA and got to know the kind of
player I was.''
Griffin's first taste of NBA play came in
the exhibition opener at the FleetCenter
Wednesday. He scored 5 points (including
2-for-4 shooting from the field) and added
four rebounds and three assists in 15
minutes off the bench in the Celtics'
110-103 loss to Charlotte.
''I was more excited than anything,'' he
said. ''When I first walked into the
stadium and then the locker room, I was a
little in awe. As a basketball player, you
dream of playing in the NBA, but after the
dream comes reality. You still have to go
out and play to the best of your God-given
ability.''
Griffin, one of only six players in Seton
Hall history to score more than 1,400
career points, said that in the CBA,
''everyone was striving to get to the
NBA.''
''On our [CBA] team, we all tried to
support each other,'' he said. ''The team,
not the individual or the individual's
stats, was what came first and what made
us successful. In fact, four or five of us
made it to veteran camps this year.''
But not without some moments of self-doubt
along the way.
''I knew it would take some time to
develop mentally and physically to the
point where I could play in the NBA and
that there would be some ups and downs,''
said Griffin, who has had some brief
preseason looks from Miami, Dallas,
Philadelphia, Golden State (with former
coach P.J. Carlesimo), and Milwaukee.
''When you don't make it, there are always
questions that come up - perhaps my
consistency as a guard or my shooting from
outside, I don't know exactly what it was.
But over the last three or four years, I
feel my game has gotten better.''
The key for Griffin, said O'Brien, is
theoretically not different from what made
him a success at the CBA level.
''It's to show you can fit into a team
that wins. That's more important than
statistics,'' O'Brien said. ''There are a
lot of people in the CBA that put together
great statistics, but the question is, do
they do the little things that help the
other people on the court play better?''
This story ran on page G04 of the Boston
Globe on 10/16/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.
Boston Herald
Battie strikes gold with Celtics
by Steve Bulpett
Saturday, October 16, 1999
PROVIDENCE - Tony Battie's view into the future became a bit clearer
yesterday when he signed a six-year contract extension. Finances are no
longer an issue for the 6-foot-11 forward.
``We won't go into the specifics of it, but he'll be buying dinner for
quite some time,'' Rick Pitino said before the Celtics took on Atlanta at
the Civic Center.
The specifics include some $25 million over the contract's term, with
about 25 percent of it in incentives. Most of the incentives are tied to
victories.
Pitino had said last week that there was no imperative to get the deal
done before the Oct. 31 deadline for players entering the third year of
their rookie contract. But Battie implied strongly in conversation that he
had fulfilled the team's summertime requests and was looking to get the
contract out of the way as soon as possible.
``Tony has proven to the organization not only that he wants to be a
Celtic, but he has done everything we've asked of him,'' Pitino said. ``We
talked this summer about being shrewd as a basketball player, and he spent
the entire spring and summer with us. He dedicated himself. And we were
certain at that time that we wanted to lock him up as a Boston Celtic.
``He has wonderful potential, and he's done everything we've asked in the
weight room, in the community and on the basketball court. And he's just
scratching his potential. He's going to get a lot better, so we're very
excited to make this announcement. Only great things are going to happen
to Tony and the Celtics because of his involvement.''
The financial security is important to Battie, who is making a little more
than $2.5 million this year on a wage scale deal from being the fifth
overall pick in the 1997 draft by Denver.
``To say that there wasn't would be a lie. There's a nice comfort zone.
But more than that, there's just a security that I just have to work hard
and not think about a contract. I'm not going to put it on cruise control
or anything. This gives me a lot of incentive to work hard.
``I just wanted to come out and play as hard as I could, knowing that good
things come to those who work hard. In my mind, this summer, I just wanted
to come in and work hard and better myself as a player. I'm thankful that
I've been given the opportunity to be here long term. There's a great core
of guys here, a great coaching staff. And I'm looking forward to doing a
lot of positive things in bringing the championship tradition right back
here.''
Battie was confident, from talking to Pitino, that things would work out
with the Celtics. But one can never be completely certain.
``A lot of things go through your mind,'' said Battie, who averaged 6.7
points and 6 rebounds in 22.4 minutes a game last year. ``I never thought
really about testing the waters or anything like that. I just wanted to
play as hard as I could and the best that I could, and I knew the rest
would come.''
Pitino spoke often last year about Battie's need to be more consistent,
and his confidence in that grew over the last few months.
``A lot of times, you don't know what you're getting in an athlete,'' the
coach and president said. ``You never know whether a player will reach his
potential unless they're willing to put their time in working with you. So
everything is a gauge. How good can Tony be? How good can Antoine (Walker)
and Paul Pierce be? The evidence is in how hard they're willing to work at
their game, and Tony was willing to pay the price.''
Boston Herald
Fortson content to wait for his
Celtics Notebook/by Steve Bulpett
Saturday, October 16, 1999
PROVIDENCE - With Tony Battie's contract extension out of the way, that
leaves just Danny Fortson among those eligible for a new deal as a player
entering the third year of the 1997 rookie wage scale.
But Fortson will not be getting a new pact by the Oct. 31 deadline.
``We're going to wait until the end of the season on Danny,'' Celtics
coach Rick Pitino said last night.
``The reason we did Tony's now is that we've had plenty of time to see him
and work with him and know what he can do. We just don't know enough about
Danny right now.''
And the Celtics shouldn't be concerned about any effect from putting
things off. Fortson cares not one whit about the situation.
Asked if his agent was still talking to the Celtics about a deal, he said,
``I don't know.
``It's not something I'm thinking a whole lot about. I'm just working. If
they want to wait 'til the end of the year, it's not a problem one bit.''
Battie still motivated
Coming here from Denver (with a non-playing summer stopover with the
Lakers in '98), Battie admitted he had something to prove with the
Celtics. His rookie season was filled with underachievement on a team that
lost 69 games.
``After a year like that, I felt like I had a lot to prove,'' Battie said.
``I lost more games my first year in the league than I've lost combined
since I've been playing the sport. It was kind of a momentum break a bit.
``But I've got all of my aggressiveness back. My mind frame especially.
Loss after loss after loss, it was kind of hard there for me.
``Now I'm with a coach with a winning reputation, and the Celtics' name is
prestige.''
Pitino jumped on another Bill Russell moment when talking about Battie's
new contract.
``Bill Russell said it to Tony in the locker room. `Now that you're rich,
so what? Now what are you going to do?' It's not like coaches who can
coach until they're 70,'' Pitino said. ``They have a window of opportunity
as a player.''
On second thought
Before the Celtics went out for the opening tip against the Hawks, Pitino
came to the press table laughing.
``We go through our whole pregame defensive routine designing something to
double-team (Dikembe) Mutombo, and he's not even in uniform,'' the coach
said. ``We worked on it a half hour.''
The Hawk center was out of the lineup for no medical reason. Coach Lenny
Wilkens was just giving him a day off.