Williams proud of old friend Baker

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Williams proud of old friend Baker
By Mark Murphy/Celtics Notebook
Thursday, November 27, 2003

ORLANDO - The smile on Shammond Williams' face could have stretched from coast
to coast last night.

     ``I told ya'll all along that he was more than capable of doing this,''
the former Celtic and present Magic guard said of his good friend, Vin Baker.
``I knew he could do this if he was put in a situation where he could excel.''

     Williams, on the injured list with a sprained ankle, went out to dinner
with the Celtics forward Tuesday night.

     ``A lot of people say he's back now, but the way I look at it, he's in a
system now that allows him to do what he does best,'' said Williams, who first
formed a friendship with Baker when they both played for Seattle.

     Williams shrugged when asked about Baker's fight not only to return to
NBA form, but also to kick alcoholism.

     ``If you say that he has unique issues to also deal with, well, everyone
has issues to deal with in their lives,'' he said. ``He's by far the comeback
player of the year in the league right now.

     ``A lot of people have gone through this and never made it back to being
the player they once were,'' said Williams. ``What he's doing is remarkable.''

     Williams quite effective

     It's not pretty, but it works.

     ``Nine times out of 10 I'm either going to make the basket, or they're
going to foul me,'' said Celtics forward Eric Williams, who came off the bench
last night with a game-altering 15 points in the C's 94-92 win over the Magic.

     Though he shot 3-for-9 from the floor, Williams, masterful in drawing
contact, also responded with a 9-for-12 performance from the line to go along
with six rebounds and a lot of stuff that, as he noted, ``doesn't get into the
papers.''

     That would be his usual brand of defense, keeping the ball alive, and
mining the floor for loose balls - an effort that was contagious at TD
Waterhouse Centre.

     ``We needed to come out here (last night) and do the little things it
takes to win,'' he said. ``The diving on loose balls and all those other
things help us win. You saw guys getting key loose balls and key rebounds when
we needed them.''

     It also became apparent, once again, that for the Celtics to be
successful, they need Williams on the floor as much as possible.

     Though he has readily accepted his sixth-man role this season, coach Jim
O'Brien started Williams at the start of the third quarter for a pressing
reason.

     ``The team we started in the third really defended well, and really got
us off to a good start,'' said O'Brien. ``One of the challenges we face right
now with Raef (LaFrentz) out is playing Eric in an unnatural position (at
power forward). When Raef is healthy, we can put Eric opposite Paul (Pierce),
and create matchup problems.''

     Too much Banks charity

     Marcus Banks [news] stepped up with some eye-popping moments, especially
with a pair of break-triggering steals in the first half. But O'Brien is not
about to satisfy himself with a stat line that last night included four
points, three assists and, gulp, six turnovers.

     ``I have to watch the tape,'' O'Brien said of evaluating his rookie point
guard. ``You can't have half the team's turnovers in 18 minutes. I have a
world of confidence in him, but it's hard to be a rookie point guard.'' . . .

     In what has become an out-and-out audition at small forward, O'Brien gave
newcomer Jiri Welsch his second straight start at the so-called ``3'' spot.

     Welsch, who scored only two points on 1-5 shooting in his starting debut
during Monday night's loss to the Knicks, hit both of his shots last night and
grabbed a rebound in 22 minutes.

     ``He's a guy that everyone would love to have on their team,'' said
O'Brien. ``I think things are working out really well for him. I like his
confidence in the offensive end. He's going to be a good NBA player.''

     On the other end of the bench, Jumaine Jones - the early leader in the
clubhouse at starting small forward until a pair of strained hamstrings wiped
out his training camp - may continue to fade from view.

     At least for the time being. Jones drew another DNP last night.

     ``He's going to get plenty of chances to prove what he can do,'' said
O'Brien. ``Like I've said, it's the same thing that happened to Kedrick
(Brown) last year in training camp. You fall behind.

     ``So Jumaine hasn't had a chance to show what he can do,'' he said. ``And
when you have as many options at the same position as we have, things are
going to get a little bit crowded.''
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx