``That one's going to cost you.''

[CeltsSteve@aol.com]

Referees file report on Walker: Celts captain will answer for outburst

Celtics Notebook/by Steve Bulpett Monday, November 13, 2000


It is Monday morning, but Antoine Walker's Saturday night may not be over. 
According to sources, officials from the game will file a report with the 
league regarding Walker's verbal barrage immediately following the Celtics' 
85-83 loss to the 76ers in Philadelphia.While the referees were said to not 
be looking at it as a major transgression, the incident will be aired and the 
Celtics co-captain could be assessed further penalties (he received a 
technical foul with 4:42 left in the last period).Walker took off on referee 
Mike Mathis regarding the end of game sequence as well as other calls the 
Celtics believed were in error. Trailing by 11 with a minute remaining - 
after having squandered an 11-point lead of their own against the Atlantic 
Division leaders - the Celtics mounted a furious comeback, scoring 14 points 
in the last 57.3 seconds. Paul P!
ie!
rce, who had 11 of those 14 and 26 for the 
game, was fouled while hitting a 3-pointer with 5.8 on the clock. The hoop 
got the Celts within two, so Pierce intentionally missed the free throw. He 
got to the rebound, and the Celtics said he was then fouled. But there was no 
call. After Vitaly Potapenko won a jump ball with 1.3 seconds left, Rick 
Brunson missed an
off-balance shot at the buzzer. Walker began screaming at Mathis in generally 
foul language. According to one source, ``It wasn't so much that he called 
him a (expletive). But when he called him a (expletive)-ing cheater, that 
crossed the line.''At a certain point during the tirade, Mathis looked back 
at Walker and said, ``That one's going to cost you.''While Rick Pitino said 
he believed the three officials - Mathis, Bernie Fryer and Jason Phillips - 
had a very bad night, the coach added that his team allowed itself to get 
taken out of its game by the calls.``They had a bad night,'' Pitino said of 
the refs. ``We have many bad nights, so I ain't gonna pin it on them. We lost 
the game. But a young team can't get frustrated with the whistle. Regardless 
of what happens, you've just got to hang in there.''Walker chose to ignore 
his on-court anger after the game, saying repeatedly the officials did not 
cost the Celtics the game.`!
`I!
'm an emotional ballplayer,'' Walker said. 
``When I get out there, I play to win.''True enough, while the Celtics did 
have reason to question some important calls, the fact they missed 11-of-27 
free throws (they failed on 9-of-20 in the last quarter alone) added some 
self infliction to the wound.


C's come two close 

The Celtics, who took yesterday off, have now lost four straight after 
opening the season with two wins. Making things even more frustrating, three 
of the four defeats (at Cleveland and Philadelphia and against New York) have 
come by just two points.``Well, I'm glad it's happened to us early instead of 
late in the season,'' said Walker. ``We can't get discouraged. We have to 
keep fighting and look at our mistakes. We've got to learn and stay mentally 
tough.''The schedule is heavily in the Celts' favor over the next two weeks. 
Six of their seven games are at home.``We have to get off this skid, go back 
home and take care of business,'' Walker said. ``It's too early in the season 
to get distracted or to get down. It's going to turn our way 
eventually.``We've just got to learn. We can't continue to have breakdowns if 
we want to be a playoff basketball team. That's three that we let slip away 
early in the season within the firs!
t !
six games. But the good thing is it's 
only six games into the season.'' 


Moiso gets in sync

Jerome Moiso isn't necessarily pleased that he was placed on the injured list 
with an allegedly sprained right ankle, but he understands where the move 
came from. The rookie had seven turnovers and three points in 33 minutes over 
four games.``I'm going to try to come back in shape first,'' said Moiso. 
``And whatever I can pick up from practices and games, that's what I'm going 
to have to do. I'm a little behind, and I have to use this time to catch 
up.''When it was noted he looked out of sync of late, Moiso said, ``Well, I 
can't really say I've ever been really in sync in the first place with the 
team so far. It's still a little struggle right now. I guess I have to be out 
there to really get going, but I have these five games now to catch up and 
see what happens after that.''