Strickland steps up: Pierce slowed by ex-mate

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Strickland steps up: Pierce slowed by ex-mate
By Mark Murphy/Celtics Notebook
Sunday, November 30, 2003

MILWAUKEE - Though his talents extend well beyond this one, if times get tough
Erick Strickland could always hire himself out as an expert on Paul Pierce
[news].

     As a player who used to guard the Celtics captain in practice each day,
Strickland was the perfect choice to stick to Pierce down the stretch of last
night's 100-94 Celtics loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center.
Though Pierce scored six of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, Strickland
made sure that getting a shot off was a chore.

     ``I just try to make it tough on him,'' said Strickland, who also hurt
the Celtics by scoring six of his 11 points over the last 12 minutes. ``I just
try to be there at every moment. I played with Paul, and he's a good friend of
mine. He's a great player. I know he doesn't see anyone (guarding him) when
he's got the ball, and he probably didn't see me tonight, but I just had to
stay with him.

     ``You're not going to stop him, though. He's one of the most efficient
scorers in this league.''

     Strickland has also developed quite the knack for playing well against
his old team.

     ``I still have a lot of love for those guys over there,'' he said. ``It's
always fun playing against them - especially if you can get a win. We would
have hated to lose back-to-back games against them.''

     The C's beat the Bucks, 106-96, on Friday night at the FleetCenter.

     Baker feels at home

     Vin Baker got sentimental yesterday. The Bucks selected him with the
eighth overall pick in the 1993 draft, and Milwaukee is the place where he
made the all-rookie team, and the city where he first became an All-Star.

     The nice part for the Baker (eight points, 23 minutes), who killed time
during the day by hailing a cab outside the C's team hotel, is that the people
of Milwaukee remember.

     ``I took the cab and just rode around and around,'' Baker said. ``The cab
driver knew me, too. It was just a lot of fun.''

     Not coincidentally, Baker had one of his few good games as a Celtic here
last season, just as he generally played well here as a Buck. There must be
something in that cold, northern air.

     ``Coming back here is always a special feeling,'' said Baker, who is
playing as well as any power forward in the Eastern Conference in what has
developed into a very special comeback season.

     ``I spent my first four years here, and they were all good memories.
There's a lot of good people here, and I have a lot of special friends here,
still. I'm definitely proud to come back now. These are blue collar fans -
real blue collar people - and that makes it very special to me. They really
appreciate what I did.

     ``It's a little different than it was in Seattle in that way. This is
still my home of homes.''

     LaFrentz passes test

     Raef LaFrentz, fresh off an encouraging 14-point performance against the
Bucks on Friday night in the C's victory, passed the all-important day-after
test yesterday morning. He came back with four points and two boards in last
night's loss.

     In short, his tendinitis-wracked right knee felt serviceable in Game 2 of
his return to active duty.

     ``It feels about like you would think it would,'' LaFrentz said.
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx