LaFrentz to have surgery on knee

[Tammo29@xxxxxxx]

LaFrentz to have surgery on knee
By Mark Murphy/Celtics Notebook
Saturday, December 13, 2003 
As much as he may have vowed not to give in over the last month, Raef 
LaFrentz agreed after last night's game to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right 
knee Monday. 

     Though LaFrentz said the procedure to repair a tendon separated from the 
bone is considered minor surgery, it will effectively end his season. 
Recovery and rehabilitation is expected to last four months. 

     ``I'm on the road to getting better, I guess,'' he said glumly after 
finishing last night's 114-111 win over Toronto with nine points, four assists 
and three rebounds in 18 minutes. ``It's not an ideal situation for me. Everyone 
felt I had to do something, because it's not working. 

     ``It's just frustrating. It's not major surgery, but it's going to take 
a long time to heal.'' 

     Director of basketball operations Danny Ainge has talked about the 
possibility of surgery for the better part of the last week, just as LaFrentz had 
expressed a desire to play through the pain that has added an obvious grimace 
to his game. LaFrentz won't play tonight in Cleveland. 

     ``We've been talking, and he wanted to play,'' Ainge said. ``Though he's 
limited right now, he could still help us a bit, but he's in a great deal of 
pain. You can see him grimace each time he goes to the basket. 

     ``We'll miss him big time, and it's not easy for him. But he's trusting 
our medical staff, and we think we're doing what's best.'' 

     Ainge acknowledged that the timing couldn't be worse on a number of 
fronts, including the fact that the Celtics offense has just started to click with 
LaFrentz supplying valuable minutes off the bench. 

     ``It would be easy to let him play and not take the hits, but this is a 
medical decision,'' said Ainge, who added that he is, as usual, trolling for a 
trade. ``I'm always hunting. If I can find someone that can help us, I 
will.'' 

     He is also taking considerable heat for the trade that sent Antoine 
Walker [news] to Dallas in a deal that, in part, brought LaFrentz to the Celtics. 

     But even before last night's game, Ainge wasn't about to back down. 
Heat? What heat? 

     ``I've been asked that question a lot lately, but I don't even think 
it's hot,'' he said. ``I don't even feel an ounce of heat right now. To tell you 
the truth, I feel like I'm freezing right now. 

     ``Did I expect people to question what I do when I came here? 
Absolutely. I was here for eight years as a player, so I know how things work,'' said 
Ainge. ``When you make the tough decisions, you expect people to be passionate 
and have opinions.'' 

     Turning over new leaf 

      The Celtics didn't commit their first turnover until 2:02 into the 
third quarter last night, and only forked the ball over nine times overall. No 
player had more than two turnovers. 

     ``Yeah, that's good coaching,'' Celtics coach Jim O'Brien said. ``But 
when you're shooting the type of percentage that we're shooting, our guys 
understand even more the value of that ball. When you're playing this well, it just 
seems ridiculous to turn the ball over.'' 

     Raptors dig deep 

     The additions of Jalen Rose, Donyell Marshall and Lonny Baxter to the 
Toronto rotation has helped in more ways than one might imagine. 

     ``To me, what we got were three guys who were playing fewer minutes 
according to their abilities, now playing more minutes according to their 
abilities,'' Raptors coach Kevin O'Neil said. 


TAM