Uh Oh, Battie Has A Sore Knee

[wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

A little dark cloud slips into the happy horizon.....

Battie battles soreness in knee: Center removed from practice
By Steve Bulpett/Celtics Notebook
Boston Herald
Monday, October 6, 2003 
The Celtics got a bit of unwanted deja vu yesterday when Tony Battie headed to the trainer's room during practice with right knee soreness. After having their center miss 11 games last season and be limited in others with cartilage problems that forced offseason surgery, the C's are anxiously awaiting medical reports on Battie again. 
	
``It doesn't seem to be anything serious,'' coach Jim O'Brien said. 
	
Added trainer Ed Lacerte: ``He had soreness in the knee and we gave him the rest of the practice off.'' 
	
An examination of Battie's knee last night was inconclusive. He will undergo an MRI today. 
	
While the Celtics have better depth in the middle this season, Battie is still expected to be the starter. 
	
Last season was a frustrating one for Battie, with uncertainty about his knee starting during training camp. He held off on surgery and had the procedure two days after the club was eliminated from the playoffs. 
	
Jones in running at forward 
	
Jumaine Jones has caught the eye of his coach and teammates early in camp and is making a strong bid to open at small forward. The fifth-year man acquired from Cleveland (for JR Bremer, Bruno Sundov and a conditional second-round draft pick) seems to fit the running game the C's are implementing. 
	
``He can really stroke the basketball,'' said O'Brien. ``He's picking things up quickly. We believe that he's got the defensive toughness to be a really fine option opposite Paul Pierce [news]. (He) runs the court very, very quickly. I think his focus has been really, really solid. 
	
``I'm thrilled to have him. I think he's a great addition to our basketball team and he's really going to compete to start at the three spot.'' 
	
Pierce agrees with his coach's assessment. 
	
``He looks pretty good,'' he said. ``I think (yesterday) was probably his best day. I think he's really starting to work into the system. He's a guy who can really do a lot of things that surprise me. I didn't know that he could shoot the ball as good as he did. He's able to knock down shots. (He) plays hard. He's going to be a good addition.'' 
	
Brown knocks 'em down 
	
The inside knock on Kedrick Brown [news] his first two years is that he didn't do enough in practice to make the coaches play him. But that's not the case thus far. 
	
``Kedrick's really playing well,'' O'Brien said. ``Kedrick is doing the things that he's very capable (of doing). He's playing tough defense. He's sprinting the court. He's rebounding the basketball well. And because he's contributing at such a high level in those three areas, he just flows into his shot. 
	
``In our scrimmage (Saturday) night he shot the ball very, very well.''