Herald - Baker at 1 percent

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

``We have Vin here for four years and, percentage-wise, he's about 
1 percent of where he's going to be. You have to allow a player to 
get his feet wet.'' - Obie

Leapin Lizards, Sandy.  We have 99 percent more to look forward to.

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Coach patient with Baker

Celtics Notebook/by Gus Martins
Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Celtics coach Jim O'Brien isn't the least bit apprehensive discussing 
Vin Baker's future and thinks his 10-point performance Monday night in 
29 minutes was a harbinger of good things to come.

``When Vin was making the All-Star Game, the defensive rules were 
different,'' O'Brien said yesterday of Baker, who was acquired in the 
offseason. ``You could get Vin all day one-on-one in the low post. Vin, 
in the low post, is a very difficult guy to stop. So is Karl Malone.

``You don't get those guys one-on-one in the low post anymore. So 
everyone's waiting for Vin Baker to be 20-25 points. You look at the 
top scorers in the NBA. There aren't any low-post players in the top 20 
in the NBA and that's for a reason. It is very difficult to get the 
ball into the low post in the NBA. So big guys have to adjust their 
game.''

O'Brien said there are myriad ways Baker will help, but offensively, he 
said the game's going to have to come to Baker.

``He needs to continue to grow as a defensive player and as a 
rebounder,'' O'Brien said. ``We have Vin here for four years and, 
percentage-wise, he's about 1 percent of where he's going to be. You 
have to allow a player to get his feet wet.''

On the offensive

Antoine Walker had another solid offensive performance in Monday 
night's 112-95 win over the Jazz, scoring 27 points on 10-of-22 from 
the field and 4-of-5 from the line. He continues to nurture the belief 
that the Celtics, who had five players in double figures on Monday, 
shouldn't have trouble scoring.

``Right now we are becoming a very, very, dangerous offensive team,'' 
he said. ``We can get five or six guys in double figures night in and 
night out and that's something we haven't had in the past.''

He added that the continued development of Paul Pierce as a passer is 
improving the team.

``I think Paul does a fantastic job of getting guys the ball and 
getting a higher number of assists,'' he said. ``That takes pressure 
off myself. You've got other guys who can penetrate and get guys open 
shots.''

Brown off IL

Kedrick Brown was activated off the injured list, where he's been with 
a sprained right ankle since Oct. 30. O'Brien cautioned that while 
Brown will suit up, it's more of a symbolic gesture. Brown still hasn't 
practiced full tilt with the team since making strides from the sprain 
suffered in preseason. . . .

Pierce said it's still too early to determine whether this Celtics team 
can match last year's 49-win season.

``It's hard to say right now,'' he said. ``Seven games doesn't make you 
contenders. We won't know right now until mid-January, February or so 
until (we've) played 30 to 40 games. So we'll just have to wait and 
see.''