You can't buy Byron

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Team broken on the glass

Poor rebounding cut down chances

By Shira Springer, Globe Staff, 5/6/2003

AST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - When Jason Collins grabbed the first of many offensive
rebounds for the Nets last night, Celtics coach Jim O'Brien shouted an
expletive. He knew it would be a long night for Boston on the glass.



New Jersey outrebounded Boston, 44-30, including 10-4 on the offensive glass.
The Celtics' four offensive rebounds marked the fewest recorded by a Nets
opponent in playoff history. The Celtics knew it was an area that must be
addressed today at practice.

''They've got athletes out there who can jump out of the gym,'' said forward
Eric Williams. ''They get on the break and they get the offensive rebounds and
we've just got to stop that. Their big guys are very athletic. We've got to be
better on those box-outs. We've just got to put bodies on those legs and
that's the only way you can stop an athlete.''

When a team's centers ( Tony Battie and Mark Blount) combine for just three
defensive rebounds (all by Battie), it's clear there's a problem. Still,
Battie, who played 18 minutes because of foul trouble, thought the Celtics
also were unlucky. There were a few occasions when Boston simply couldn't hold
on to rebounds.

''I think we got some weird bounces,'' said Battie. ''They're a deep
jump-shooting team, so those rebounds come off long. They beat us to a couple
loose balls. Overall, our effort was there. Maybe our timing and our luck with
capturing the ball wasn't there.''

On home turf

Williams rarely qualifies as a go-to-guy. But last night he was the most
accurate shooter on the floor, going 6 of 9 for 15 points, which was the
second-highest total on the team.

Before the game, the self-proclaimed Prince of Newark was feeling right at
home and holding court. The prospect of a physical game that suited his style
was topic No. 1.

''In order for you to have a good defense, guys have to play aggressive, got
to be physical,'' said Williams. ''You can't be easy. You don't want teams to
be able to run their offense the way they do in practice.

''You don't want them to be comfortable running their plays. That's my thing.
I like my defense to be effective. And I enjoy it at the same time, so it's
double for me.''

After the Eastern Conference finals last season, opposing fans should know
better than to taunt Williams. One sitting courtside in New Jersey made that
mistake last year. But if he knew Williams's background, he may have thought
twice.

''If you say the wrong thing to me, you're going to get a mouthful back,''
said Williams. ''I just told him straight up, `I'm from here. You can easily
find me if you want to talk like this. The only thing you've got to do is come
to the projects, where I've never seen you in my life.' That was the end of
that. Verbal confrontation used to be a part of my life back in the day.''

Asked if he did anything interesting while back home, Williams said, ''When I
used to do interesting things in Newark, you didn't want to know about it.''

You can't buy Byron

It was Boston revisited for New Jersey coach Byron Scott last night as he
talked about the time the Celtics recruited him as a free agent in 1993.
According to Scott, the Celtics made a decent offer but he ended up signing
with Indiana instead.

''My feeling for being a Laker made that decision,'' said Scott. ''I couldn't
see myself wear that green and white after wearing the purple and gold for so
long.''

Even if the Celtics added more ''green'' to their offer, Scott noted, it would
not have changed his mind.

''You can't buy my loyalty,'' said Scott. ''Maybe some happiness for a year,
but you can't buy my loyalty.''

Scott also knew better than to talk to his former Laker teammates about being
courted by the Celtics, considering the intensity of the rivalry.

''I wouldn't dare bounce it off Earvin [ Magic Johnson],'' said Scott. ''If I
did sign, I probably couldn't ever have gone back to LA.''

Used to it

O'Brien attributed the Celtics' recent defensive improvement to bringing in
Grant Long, Blount, Mark Bryant, and Bimbo Coles and making practice more
intense on the defensive end. ''I think we were able to get four new players
acclimated to what we're doing,'' said O'Brien. ''Getting Mark Blount, Mark
Bryant, Grant Long, and Bimbo Coles gives us veterans and made practice more
physical, made the defense step up. It's just a matter of getting your whole
basketball team doing the same thing and trusting one another.'' ... Asked
what type of music he planned to listen to in preparation for a physical game,
Blount said, ''Flagrant 1. Hope it's not a Flagrant 2.'' ... Pierce received a
dozen yellow roses from an admirer before the game ... ... Celebrity
sightings: Jay-Z, Ashton Kutcher , and P. Diddy.

Thanks,

Steve
sb@maine.rr.com

[demime 1.01b removed an attachment of type image/gif which had a name of E.gif]