But yesterday, Eric Williams addressed his teammates in the huddle. In a two-minute, obscenity-laced scolding of certain players, Williams asked his teammates to stay focused as they try to make up ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Williams's action was prompted by an argument that broke out between two players earlier in practice, an incident Williams called ''a distraction.'' Williams spoke forcefully, but he kept his remarks to the point and his anger under control.
With the Celtics riding a three-game winning streak and playing the eighth-place Pacers in Indiana tonight, Williams wants his teammates to take workouts seriously and not get involved in petty disputes. Team goals should be first and foremost, he said, as the Celtics reach a critical period in their schedule.
''These are men,'' said O'Brien. ''Certainly, in meeting situations behind closed doors they can and are expected to express their opinions, and they do. That's one of the reasons we're so close - because they'll shoot straight with one another and they'll say what they have to say. If it's to praise or say they don't like what's going on, the other guys can take criticism. They take criticism well from me and from one another.''
Neither the players involved in the argument nor the subject of it were revealed by O'Brien or cocaptain Paul Pierce. O'Brien viewed Williams's action as a positive sign.
''They understand that there's a time to have a good time and a time to get to work,'' said O'Brien. ''They understand that the NBA is not played by college-age kids all the time or high school guys.
''This is not a dictatorship. They'd like organization and discipline. At the same time, they understand they're all part of an organization and they all have a say in that organization.
''These guys assume ownership of this team. They realize they have to have a certain level of concentration, and any distractions to that, whatever they might be, don't help the situation. If it wasn't Eric saying it, it would have been Antoine [Walker], if he was here. Paul took care of saying his piece earlier on.''
According to Pierce, arguments in practice are bound to arise over the course of an 82-game season. It's important that tensions not be allowed to simmer.
''Things throughout the course of the season are going to happen,'' said Pierce. ''You're here together seeing the same ugly faces every day, smelling them, and tensions are going to come into it. It's nothing really major.
''We're a close-knit group. That's just like any other family. You're going to have your small problems and then it's taken care of and back to business.''
It's likely that Walker will not be in the lineup tonight, as his grandmother died yesterday morning and O'Brien told the power forward to take whatever time he needs ... The Pacers will present a difficult matchup for the Celtics, with or without Walker, especially on the road. ''They've always been a very difficult team to defense,'' said O'Brien, ''because they post up at most positions and they always have three or four excellent 3-point shooters on.'' ... Tony Battie worked on the treadmill during practice and said his rehabilitation from a severely sprained left ankle was ''on schedule.'' He also has been doing some stationary shooting. He could be back in the lineup by the third week of February. ''It's feeling better,'' said the center, ''but it's still extremely tender and the swelling is still there. The flexibility is getting better, the range of motion is getting better. It's going to take a couple more weeks.''
This story ran on page D2 of the Boston Globe on 1/31/2001.
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2001 Globe Newspaper Company.