Ainge: Burden of proof on Baker - Herald

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Burden of proof on Baker: Must show he can do it on the run

By Mark Murphy/NBA Notes
Sunday, October 5, 2003

Danny Ainge was recently asked about the role he envisioned for Vin Baker
this season.

     After looking off into the distance for one long, blank moment, the
Celtics director of basketball operations replied, with typical candor, that
he
didn't necessarily have one.

     Ainge went on to say that he has planned for Baker's return without a
specific plan.

     Let's call it the wait and see approach. For all of the talk about
Baker's hard work to kick alcoholism and the horrible results it produced in
the
forward's game, he is also the great unknown where the 2003-04 Celtics are
concerned.

     If he pulls through with a stirring comeback, then the Celtics will
benefit from a terrific bonus.

     If not, then no one should be particularly surprised.

     For even if Baker is able to make more of his minutes this time around,
he is not necessarily a good fit for the way coach Jim O'Brien and Ainge are
attempting to re-cast the Celtics.

     They want to develop a running game with solid defense at the root.
Baker, at his peak, was a halfcourt player who sapped motion out of the
offense in
Milwaukee and Seattle, his two previous stops.

     It's not surprising that many of his Seattle teammates rejoiced at the
news of his trade to the Celtics, for it freed up the ball. Baker's demand for
touches - a process that froze the offense while the big guy tried to back his
way under the basket - was insatiable.

     And last year, as it became more and more apparent that Baker wasn't
going to be of use, the Baker camp (ie: family and friends) started to quietly
gripe that O'Brien wasn't using Baker the right way - that Vin, surprise,
surprise, needed his post-up touches to produce the expected numbers.

     Perhaps that's why Ainge was unsure of Baker's place in this plan.
Baker's only known commodity is antithetical to how the Celtics want to
change.

     ``My whole thing with Vin is that I'm not counting on him to be the
thing we're missing,'' said Ainge. ``But he has to prove that we're a better
team
when he's on the floor.

     ``The one thing he has proven is that he can score when he's in the low
post.''

     Here's what Baker has to prove now:

     That he can control the defensive boards and, if the Celtics fast break
is to thrive, feed the break with a strong outlet pass, as opposed to the
player last year who often had rebounds ripped out of his hands by smaller
opponents.

     That he can fill the lanes for point guards Marcus Banks [<A
HREF="http://celtics.bostonherald.com/celtics/?searchSite=recent&keyword=Marc
us Banks">news</A>] and Mike
James [<A
HREF="http://celtics.bostonherald.com/celtics/?searchSite=recent&keyword=Mike
James">news</A>].

     That he can do his part defensively.

     That he can score out of the flow, instead of obstructing it.

     Even O'Brien, superlative in his praise of Baker's work this summer,
warned of the oncoming adjustment last week.

     ``Running full-speed with the ball getting thrown at his head, well,
he's going to have to get acclimated to basketball the way it's played by the
Boston Celtics,'' said O'Brien.

     Baker, of course, is raring to go.

     ``I consider myself, most of all, to be a basketball player,'' Baker
said of what he sees as his own adaptability. ``I'm ready to get up and down
the
floor, or to contribute in a halfcourt situation. I'm prepared for any style.

     ``My biggest thing is getting on the court and playing,'' he said.
``It's not about proving something. I know a lot of people will be watching,
and
I've prepared myself for that.

     ``I'm glad that all eyes will be on me. It's a win-win situation for me
and the Celtics.''

     In theory, anyway.

     Same old Sprewell

     Once on the floor, Latrell Sprewell has always been a joy for his
teammates and fans alike.

     It's off the court where the unorthodox stuff has always plagued the
veteran guard, as his new team discovered on media day last Thursday.

     With Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor anxious to unveil his new-look team,
which also includes center Michael Olowokandi and guard Sam Cassell, the
former Knick was nowhere to be seen.

     As a visibly bothered Taylor understood it, Sprewell was somewhere
between his native Milwaukee and Minneapolis, apparently driving to his first
day
of training camp.

     To further dampen the mood came the news that Olowokandi could miss the
opening weeks of training camp due to lingering soreness from summer knee
surgery.

     Kobe leaves 'em hanging

     Taylor's dismay was at least matched by that of Lakers officials when
Kobe Bryant, after telling general manager Mitch Kupchak that he intended to
play the whole season despite his oncoming sexual assault trial, didn't show
up
for the first day of training camp in Hawaii.

     Though Bryant is recovering from both knee and shoulder surgery, neither
was apparently the reason for the embattled guard's decision to stay home.

     Bryant, via agent Rob Pelinka, bagged out because of the nebulous reason
that he ``wasn't feeling well.''

     Phil Jackson, with no more information than this to go on, was not
amused.

     ``We're obviously disappointed that Kobe's not here with the basketball
club, and with his teammates,'' said the coach. ``You know, this is a team
thing. It's about us as a basketball team and what the best is for our team.

     ``So we'll commence and go on as usual,'' said Jackson. ``No one is
bigger than the team or the game. That's the way it is.

     ``I'm perfectly comfortable if Kobe would miss half of training camp or
the whole training camp. He knows what we do. He's got a basketball mind.''

     He may also have a particularly savvy media mind, considering the crush
that was on hand for media day, mostly with questions regarding Bryant and the
major distraction his case has already created for the team.

     To add further frustration to the situation, Jackson was unable to get a
call through to Bryant on Wednesday.

     Reality check

     In his brief time as a Bull, Eddie Robinson has made his mark as a
self-absorbed complainer, especially when the subject is playing time.

     Now that Scottie Pippen has returned to Chicago, presumably for his swan
song, and presumably with yet another negative affect on Robinson's minutes,
the mouth has apparently lost much of its vitriol.

     Robinson, it seems, was greatly humbled this summer after fighting off a
robber armed with a .9mm pistol.

     ``I came out of that thanking God, happy as heck to be alive and that
the gun did not go off,'' Robinson, who was accosted as he left a Chicago
nightclub, told the Chicago Sun-Times. ``I'm going to be street-smart and just
stay
at home from now on. I learned my lesson. I don't want to go to any more
nightclubs. Not in Chicago. It's too dangerous.''

     Perhaps Robinson will even talk to Bulls general manager John Paxson
now.

     Paxson fined Robinson $50,000 this summer for refusing to work out at
the team's training facility, and also for not returning Paxson's phone calls.

     The fine, according to Paxson, was the GM's way of getting Robinson's
attention. . . .

     Stephen Jackson's determination to make more than the three-year, $10
million deal offered by his old team, the NBA champion Spurs, has carried the
free agent forward into the NBA wasteland.

     Jackson's latest stop was in Atlanta, where the Hawks would love to sign
the athletic lane-filler, but may not have the cash to give him anything but
a minimum deal.

     Does he settle for less at this point, to play for a decidedly worse
team?

     Another bad case of fuzzy math, as they say.

CeltsSteve