Williams wonders -- why?

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Williams wonders -- why?

Flagrant foul, ejection still mystery to forward

By Peter May, Globe Staff, 3/11/2003

Eric Williams said he still can't understand why he was ejected from Sunday's
game for what officials said was a flagrant foul, Category 2, against San
Antonio's Tony Parker. It came just four minutes into the game -- ''It was a
quicker decision than I would liked to have seen,'' said coach Jim O'Brien --
and the Celtics were in a funk all evening.



''I'm an aggressive player. I'm trying to make an aggressive play,'' Williams
said. ''I know how to give a hard foul, but at the same time, I don't think it
was a foul where I needed to be tossed.''

A Category 2 flagrant foul, which brings an automatic ejection, is called when
the officials feel there is ''unnecessary and excessive contact.''

Williams will file an appeal of the call with the league, hoping to have it
expunged from his record; however, league operations chief Stu Jackson said
last night the decision ''will stand as called.''

Williams joked that maybe he had to be taken out of the game to match the
absence of the Spurs' David Robinson (back injury).

''I thought it was chess for a minute,'' he said. ''I played this game for
eight years and I've had harder fouls than that. That was a veteran crew and
they've seen harder fouls than that. And I still got tossed. After that, I
don't know how to foul anyone.''

O'Brien maintained it was a ''borderline'' call, adding, though, that he
understood the referee's decision. Parker said he didn't think the foul was
excessive.


Up for the Hall

Celtic great Robert Parish is among the first-time finalists for election into
the Basketball Hall of Fame. Ex-Celtic Dennis Johnson, who was in town last
Friday as head coach of the Clippers, also was among the 21 finalists . . .
Paul Pierce went through a full practice and seemed none the worse for wear.
''He might be turning a corner in his back problems,'' O'Brien said, referring
to the injury that has forced Pierce to miss three recent games . . . Bimbo
Coles stayed for some late shooting but said what he needs most right now is
to get his conditioning back. ''I haven't played for a while,'' he said. He's
right. Until his Boston debut Sunday (10 minutes), he had not played since a
12-minute stint against the Pistons Feb. 16. By the way, the last time Coles
appeared in a game his team won was Nov. 5, when the Cavaliers beat the
Shaqless Lakers in Cleveland . . . O'Brien was still upset over his team's 23
turnovers against the Spurs, a season high. ''We gave ourselves no chance to
win,'' he said. The Celtics remain inconsistent on both ends, but Sunday's
loss was due more to offensive breakdowns. Many of the turnovers (Pierce had
7) were stupid passes to patrons or opponents. ''We are all somewhat
aggravated with our lack of getting the job done offensively,'' said O'Brien.
Thanks,

Steve
sb@maine.rr.com

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