Always in tune, Auerbach talks up game

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Always in tune, Auerbach talks up game

The NBA/by Mark Murphy
Thursday, April 3, 2003








He still unlocks the door to his office in Washington each weekday morning,
settles in behind the desk covered with museum-quality memorabilia and works
the phones.



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Maybe it will be someone from the home office in Boston, or old friend Mike
Jarvis, or one of the folks down the street at George Washington University.

Especially at this time of year, he's up late watching college games, but that
doesn't matter. Red Auerbach doesn't need so much sleep these days - maybe he
never did. And besides, DirecTV is a wonderful technological advancement for
the Celtics president.

He's ready to talk college players, whenever people such as Chris Wallace are
ready to listen.

He loves the promise of Marquette's Dwyane Wade, but you want someone who
brings a real enthusiastic surge to Auerbach's voice?

``That Luke Walton,'' he said yesterday of the Arizona forward. ``He's maybe
the best passer out there. A real smart player. He always seems to make the
right play. I just don't know if he can overcome the quickness thing.''

Auerbach also doesn't know if his own team can overcome the injury thing.

He naturally watched every dour minute of the Celtics' recent six-game losing
streak, and the two defenseless wins over Cleveland that followed.

Like everyone else concerned, Auerbach hasn't deluded himself about what has
happened to this team during its stretch stumble for the playoffs.

``We need (Tony) Battie back,'' Auerbach said of the C's oft-injured center,
who played 17 minutes of last night's 90-62 rout of Miami after missing the
previous four because of a cranky right knee that has been a problem since
early January.

``With him in there, we can give anyone a battle,'' said Auerbach. ``When we
have that, it's a huge help, because (Paul) Pierce and (Antoine) Walker have
both had great years.

``I think both of those guys have really stepped up and become terrific
leaders this year.''

Indeed, count Auerbach as a huge Walker fan these days. Auerbach, as much as
anyone else in the organization, has been witness to Walker's development -
sometimes a painful process - over the forward's seven seasons as a Celtic.

``I think the difference now is that he realizes that he's a great player, and
that to contribute to this team he has to do other things than score,'' said
Auerbach. ``He has to bring the ball up now, and avoid turnovers.

``But his attitude is great now. The difference is that he became a man about
a year ago, when he made the All-Star team for the second time.

``I think that was a very important moment for him,'' Auerbach added. ``He
realized that it's harder to stay on that level than to get there, and it made
a big difference.''

That's why, with the assumption that Battie will be more in than out of the
picture once the playoffs begin, the Celtics can defend well enough to make
inroads.

``Assuming that Pierce and Walker do the job, it allows the others to do what
they do well,'' Auerbach said. ``And there's two other guys I like a lot - two
guys who, if they play good coming down the stretch, can really make a
difference.

``I'm talking about Walter (McCarty) and Eric Williams.''

That's why, at a time when many are sounding the alarm, Auerbach is relatively
calm.

``You see, everyone has gone through one of these bad trends,'' he said.
``Don't panic. I told Jim O'Brien that it's unfortunate, but when it hits your
team you just have to do the best you can. Philadelphia lost nine out of 10
games at one point, and so did Indiana. Detroit had its bad stretch.

``It's not catastrophic,'' said Auerbach. ``Our road record is as good as
anyone's. It's at home that we have to improve a little bit. But Jimmy O'Brien
has good control of the situation - he's disciplined, and he doesn't panic.
He's got the respect of his ballclub.

``Take a look at what we have on paper on this team - there's a lot of teams
under us right now, with worse records, that you would trade, team-for-team,
or maybe even a little bit more, because of the talent.''

But for now, Auerbach continues to turn his attention to future talent.

He can tell you why St. John's Marcus Hatten, for all of his explosive talent,
is a trick-or-treat player.

He loves the Kansas guys - especially Nick Collison - and has some significant
reservations about Xavier's David West.

If you want to talk about Georgetown's Mike Sweetney, on the other hand . . .
.



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Thanks,

Steve
sb@maine.rr.com

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