Grizzlies GM West has praise for Ainge

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      Grizzlies GM West has praise for Ainge
      By Steve Bulpett/Celtics Notebook
      Saturday, November 1, 2003

      MEMPHIS - Danny Ainge got a stamp of approval from the leader in his
business last night.

           Grizzlies president of basketball operations Jerry West - one of
the top two GMs in NBA history (some guy named Red is the other) - wasn't so
much into discussing the particular merits of the Celtics' trade of Antoine
Walker [news], but he liked the impetus for the move.

           ``I applaud people for being bold,'' West said before the Celts
beat his club, 93-91, on Mike James [news]' jumper. ``I do.

           ``And the Celtic fans, you know, they demand the best, and they've
had a lot of success there. They had a very good team the way it was, and they
decided they had to make a change.

           ``But I applaud Danny. It's easy to sit and not do anything and
just be critical.''

           West, the Lakers legend who went on to build great teams in Los
Angeles, said the job requires a tough exterior.

           ``I've traded guys and gotten a lot of criticism, but I don't
care,'' he said. ``That's the difference. I don't care. And it looks like
Danny is doing things the same way. You have to do what you believe is
right.''

           West's coach, Hubie Brown, believes the changes made are right for
the Celts. He was preparing to face a different outfit than he was expecting
two weeks ago.

           ``I like what they're doing,'' Brown said. ``I like the rotation. I
think Jimmy (O'Brien) and his staff have 10 deep. I think they're extremely
satisfied with their second unit. When you think of the guys on that unit who
started last year for different teams (Raef LaFrentz, Eric Williams, Walter
McCarty [news], Tony Battie), you have a world of playoff experience on your
second unit. Not too many teams can say that.

           Baker's really cooking

           Everywhere you looked, there was Vin Baker.

           And when he put the finishing touches on his outing last night, the
ledger read: game-high 24 points (10-of-15 shooting) and eight rebounds.

           It was Baker's dunk with 1:09 left in the third period that gave
the C's a 66-65 lead - their first lead since early in the first quarter.

           Baker said preseason conditioning allowed the Celtics to turn up
the heat in the final periods.

           ``In the third and fourth quarters, we've got to show our presence
on the floor,'' he said. ``I just started spreading the floor and trying to
get easy baskets, really running.''

           Baker continued his eye-popping start. In Thursday night's
season-opening win over the Heat, he shot 6-of-8 en route to 15 points and
five rebounds in 26 minutes. Last night, he said he liked the fact he was able
to string good possessions together.

           ``That's part of my growing,'' he said. ``I think I moved to 50
percent tonight. I'm 50 percent there.''

           James a gunslinger

           O'Brien on the importance of James' last shot with Paul Pierce
[news] having fouled out: ``The first two games we played well with Paul on
the bench, so we would have had a very legitimate shot of beating them in
overtime. But certainly you don't want to go into overtime, and we thought the
best matchup that we had on the court was Mike against (Jason) Williams.'' . .