No Subject

    I wish Batgirl hadn't gone and claimed later that he "tried to help"
Pierce from getting stabbed eleven times, since luckily he didn't suffer
a scratch trying to help his friend from getting ganged up on by three
big guys. Battie should have just said that he wasn't there in time to
do anything (which was probably what happened).

    I'm sorry to go back to this, but if Battie had been stabbed in the
attack IMO he'd pull a Monica Seles and "start" the next 82 games hiding
inside his locker. To the credit of Paul Pierce, no one would blame him
if he took a lot of time to recover. And if Antoine Walker were blessed
with Tony Battie's size and physical tools, he'd bring the game of Bill
Russell to the boards on a lot of nights.

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Rick sets road rules: Institutes curfew on back-to-back nights
Celtics Notebook/by Steve Bulpett
Wednesday, October 4, 2000

The economies of some NBA cities may dip slightly this season, and Rick
Pitino is hoping the Celtics' stock rises as a result. The team is
instituting a road curfew.

``It's just on back-to-back games, and it's not an early curfew,'' said
Pitino, who, it should be noted, made the decision prior to last week's
Paul Pierce incident. ``I'm going to have a 1 o'clock curfew on
back-to-back games.

``I think we're a young basketball team, and judging from what the
players have told me in one-on-one talks, maybe this is something we
need to do.''

The Celtics have been known to hit the town after arriving late in a
city, and the subject was raised on the flight home from Orlando last
March after a nasty argument on the bench. The club's 9-32 road record
was fifth-worst in the NBA.

``When you look at the reasons for losing on the road, you can't
necessarily blame going out specifically,'' Pitino said. ``But the
maturity of getting rest, the maturity of being mentally and physically
prepared and not thinking you're young and invincible is key.

``From what I understand, the Lakers had a curfew of midnight. I think a
1 o'clock curfew on the road in a back-to-back situation is just taking
care of your job. I would hope they'd be responsible enough anyway
without a curfew, but when you're young you seem to be invincible at
times mentally.''

Pierce camps out

Pierce, still recovering from his attack, was a welcome sight at
yesterday morning's training camp session, even if he was dressed in
sweat pants and a T-shirt and sitting near the trainer's room.

Pitino was again optimistic about Pierce's return, but he cautioned that
it will take time to get over the stab wounds.

``Paul's doing well,'' Pitino said. ``But even though he may come back
whenever, it's going to take him some time to get back into shape. The
good thing about Paul is he was in great shape before this happened, and
I don't think he'll lose too much. I think he'll start walking in a few
days. He won't run, he'll walk. But they've got a program set up.''

Battie an X-factor

Tony Battie has said he would like to start all 82 games at center, and
while Pitino was encouraged by such talk, he noted that he'd simply be
happy with more regular production from him. If that occurs, Pitino
believes he'll have a strong pivot committee with Battie, Vitaly
Potapenko and rookie Mark Blount.

``What we need is to expect more from Tony Battie,'' Pitino said.
``Vitaly's worked extremely hard this summer, but Tony is the unknown
factor right now. I think you've all seen flashes of brilliance, and
then you've seen him not play that well. We need him consistently to be
a factor on the glass, be a factor defensively.

``I think he's going to be pushed very hard by Vitaly. Vitaly's in
phenomenal shape. This was as tough an opening practice as I've ever
been involved with, and Vitaly could still go out there (afterward) and
work on his shooting and his game.''

Pitino said Blount ``could be a major steal for us if he keeps
progressing, because he's 255 (pounds) and he's 7-foot. If he came out
in the draft this year, he'd probably be drafted somewhere around 7-12.
I wasn't a big Mark Blount fan out of college because he was like 210
pounds. . . . Now he's 255 and he runs as well as anybody on the team.''
. . .

The C's signed free agent guard Michael Jordan, Ivy League Player of the
Year last year at Penn.

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