Knees freeze on C's

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Knees freeze on C's
By Mark Murphy/Celtics Notebook
Monday, November 17, 2003

The so-called ``hot spot'' in Raef LaFrentz' right knee that gave Celtics
officials pause before they finally agreed last month's trade has already
played a role in the forward's health.

     LaFrentz, who is on the injured list in an attempt to let the tenderness
from his chronic tendinitis wane, watched yesterday's practice from the
sideline along with Eric Williams (knee) and Tony Battie (knee).

     ``We want to be able to get it to settle down,'' Celtics coach Jim
O'Brien said. ``We have to get it to the point where it was more manageable
than it was Friday morning. It's to the point where he had a difficult time
dunking the ball the other day.''

     Williams participated in the first half of practice. Battie, who limped
off the floor after Friday night's win over Cleveland, is once again
struggling with soreness in his surgically repaired right knee.

     ``In a way it's a return to the way it was last year,'' O'Brien said of a
season-long stretch in which Battie often had to miss practices and games
because of knee pain. ``He has slight swelling, and it's been three days since
the last game.''

     Jones gets shot

     Look for Jumaine Jones to start his second straight game at small forward
tonight against the Knicks - as much in an attempt by O'Brien to get the
forward acclimated as because Kedrick Brown [news]'s performance as a starter
has been inconsistent.

     ``This is to give (Jones) the best chance to get comfortable,'' said
O'Brien, whose original intent after trading for Jones last summer was to turn
the forward into a starter. ``I'd rather have him out there on the floor with
players like Paul (Pierce), Mike (James) and Vin (Baker). After all, we
brought him in to be with those guys.''

     O'Brien is admittedly also still attempting to refine his rotation and
combinations.

     ``I'm still trying to work out our best combinations,'' he said. ``I'm
really still learning about all of them. I'm still learning about guys that
we've had for the last couple of years.

     ``But I'm still learning about Vin, and how to take advantage of what he
does,'' O'Brien said. ``Jumaine, Marcus (Banks), even Mike still face a steep
learning curve.

     ``(Friday) night I tried Jiri (Welsch) at backup point guard - not that
Marcus has been bad - and I wanted to see Jumaine and give him the chance to
get out there.''

     Blount on the ball

     Mark Blount, not surprisingly, has become the bellwether of Celtics
defense.

     ``When he's on the court, the other team has shot 30 percent, which is
remarkable,'' O'Brien said of his young center. ``He's not a great shot
blocker, but he does things within the scheme of the Celtics defense that
makes quite a difference.'' . . .

     As a sign of how tough life is in the Atlantic Division at the moment,
the Celtics head into tonight's game against the Knicks with the only record
(5-4) over .500. Though New York is a painful 2-7, the Knicks are one of four
teams with three or fewer wins in the division.

     ``Our take is that the NBA is really bunched up right now,'' O'Brien
said. ``A lot of teams, like the Knicks, have not got off to a great start,
but they can still beat you good.''
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx