insider

[Josh Ozersky <JOzersky@xxxxxxx>]

ATLANTIC DIVISION TURF WARS 

BOSTON CELTICS 

PG: Shammond Williams vs. Tony Delk 
Strapped for cash and faced with losing several of their top free agents,
the Celtics played the shell game this summer. They gave away Kenny
Anderson, coming off his best season in years, to solve their problems down
low with Vin Baker. Now the team has two players who look the part, but are
really shooting guards in point guard bodies. "Will they be able to run the
pick-and-roll as well as Kenny? No, they will not," coach Jim O'Brien said,
"because there are not five guys in the league that can run the
pick-and-roll as well as Kenny can." General manager Chris Wallace isn't
concerned. 

"With the way we play, we can get away with it," Wallace told Insider.
"Antoine [Walker] is a quasi-point guard. Much of the offense is run through
him anyway. In our system, the key thing for our point guards is perimeter
shooting. It's really more important to us than playmaking." 

If that's the case, the Celtics should be in business. Both Delk and
Williams are excellent outside shooters. In fact, Williams is already making
a major impression, and the word out of Boston is that he has the early leg
up to be the starting point guard opening night. "I am shocked at how good
of a 3-point shooter he is," O'Brien said on Tuesday. "I hesitate to say
he's a great shooter, but he might be a great shooter." 

SG: Eric Williams vs. Kedrick Brown 
Williams is known as one of the most tenacious defenders on the team, but
that perception is slowly changing. "Kedrick is becoming one of the best on
the ball defenders in the NBA," Wallace told Insider. "He's our best athlete
and has gotten an excellent education guarding Paul Pierce in practice." 

While it looks like Williams' experience will give him the early nod, the
Celtics are counting on Brown to play a major role on this team this year.
Brown looked much more comfortable this summer at the Shaw Summer League and
has an explosive offensive game when he's not deferring to Pierce and
Walker. If the second-year swingman can prove he has the poise to handle the
heat of battle, the Celtics' starting lineup of Shammond Williams, Brown,
Pierce, Walker and Baker may ring up more points than any team in the
league. 

Projected Starting 5: 
PG: Shammond Williams 
SG: Eric Williams 
SF: Paul Pierce 
PF: Antoine Walker 
C: Vin Baker