Williams In Heat; Brown Is Hot

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Williams feels the heat
By Mark Murphy
Thursday, October 9, 2003 
UNCASVILLE, Conn. - Call this the latest challenge. 
	
Eric Williams stepped onto the floor for his first exhibition game of the season last night knowing that the fight for roster spots has rarely been so competitive. 
	
Even though fellow Celtics forward Jumaine Jones missed the 104-89 loss to Detroit at Mohegan Sun Casino with a strained hamstring, his presence was apparent. And with the team's small forward position now four candidates deep - including Williams, Jones and the swinging roles of Kedrick Brown [news] and Walter McCarty [news] - it may seem that Williams once again has to remind his superiors of his value. 
	
Considering that his contract expires at the end of the season, the so-called contract-year pressure is also about to kick in. 
	
But the Celtics forward, who had hoped to sign an extension during the summer before director of basketball operations Danny Ainge essentially put a moratorium on extensions, is shrugging off the business side for now. 
	
``The way I play isn't going to be different now,'' said Williams, who chipped in five points last night. ``I played the same way when I got my first contract. 
	
``I approach every game in the same way. When I got my last extension, I just played with the mindset that I have to let things come to me. I'm also a businessman, and so I understand the way these things work out. It's more of an opportunity for me than anything else.'' 
	
These are obviously the words Ainge wants to hear. 
	
His no-extension stance wasn't just applied to Williams. Antoine Walker [news], with two years left on his deal, wanted the same consideration before Ainge gave an emphatic ``no'' to the proposal. 
	
Brown is also shooting for the Celtics to pick up an option for next season. 
	
But Ainge's reply is simple. Pressure is good. 
	
``I think that competition is what it's all about,'' Ainge said. ``This is going to be a big year for Eric. 
	
``Sure, it's a contract year, but I think he's still young enough to have a lot of good years left in his career. To me, he's a tough, hard-nosed guy who finishes well. He'll be successful.'' 
	
Especially now, with coach Jim O'Brien searching for ways to open up the floor for his team, which had to work far too hard for offense last season. 
	
``That aspect will definitely help my game out, because I'm usually the first guy who gets down the court anyway,'' Williams said with a smile. ``I'll get a lot of loose opportunities if we start going like that. 
	
``It's the game-within-the-game that way.'' 
	
Which, in turn, leads to the business-within-the-business. 
	
But Williams, even with the competition at its sternest since he returned to the Celtics in the summer of 1999, isn't about to let business get in the way of playing his game. 
	
``I'm good,'' Williams said of heading into his final season without a safety net. ``You don't get everything you want. I know what I do, and what I bring to the team. I understand the business side. Everything here is new - new owners, a new GM in Danny Ainge. And he has to work things out on the business side. 
	
``They know what I do in the clubhouse, and as a leader. These are all things that count.'' 
	
Brown shines in opening loss
By Mark Murphy/Celtics Notebook
Thursday, October 9, 2003 
UNCASVILLE, Conn. - A few rusty joints here. More than a few turnovers (27) there. Preseason basketball is like searching for pearls in a swamp. 
	
``It is what it is,'' Celtics coach Jim O'Brien said of last night's 104-89 loss to the Detroit Pistons in the exhibition opener at Mohegan Sun Casino. 
	
O'Brien was subsequently happy to take the unsightly with what he considered some important improvements, like the all-around polish in Kedrick Brown [news]'s offense. 
	
The swingman shot 8-of-10 from the floor on the way to 18 points, and showed that he really has worked on his jumper over the last four months. He hit both of his 3-point attempts and was eager to take the outside shot. 
	
Vin Baker, before landing hard on his heel and leaving the game for precautionary purposes early in the third quarter, actually hurt the Pistons' huge frontcourt with an aggressive inside game. 
	
Rookie Marcus Banks [news] had trouble with Detroit's pressure, but O'Brien wrote that off to not having time to prepare his team for the press over the last week. 
	
Fellow rookies Kendrick Perkins [news] and Brandon Hunter [news] were particularly active under the glass, though for the time being it is best to keep them out of china shops. 
	
In other words, the season has started. 
	
``Obviously we have a lot to learn,'' said Paul Pierce [news], who got his feet wet with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. ``The guys have to get ready for the up-tempo style. We just have to learn to run more under control.'' 
	
O'Brien keeps Sox on 
	
O'Brien, who should be a Phillies fan considering his roots, quickly latched on to the Red Sox when he joined Rick Pitino's Celtics staff in 1997. 
	
No surprise, then, when this rarely distracted coach didn't mind admitting an hour before a game that his hopes were still with his adopted baseball team. 
	
``It's great to be the fan of a team that has brought this kind of emotion to Boston,'' O'Brien said. ``I'm one of those people who thinks that this is our year.'' 
	
Though he obviously had more pressing worries to think about two springs ago, when a group of Red Sox including Pedro Martinez and Nomar Garciaparra packed a sky box to cheer on the Celtics during a playoff win over the Nets, O'Brien was also touched. 
	
``The Sox, the Pats, Bruins and the Celtics all kind of pull for each other, and that's kind of nice,'' he said. ``It makes the environment of this city a great place to be if you're a sports fan.'' 
	
No room for Cleaves 
	
The early reports on free agent point guard Mateen Cleaves have been positive. 
	
If the Celtics didn't already have 14 players under contract, the point guard might even have a solid chance of cracking the roster. 
	
Thus the problem. 
	
``I'm not going to go out there and just get another guy under contract,'' said Danny Ainge, the C's director of basketball operations. ``We'll see if someone is worthy, but our inclination right now is to start the season with what we have.'' . . . 
	
Tony Battie missed last night's game with soreness in his surgically repaired right knee, though O'Brien characterized it as a precautionary measure. Tony Delk (groin) and Jumaine Jones (hamstring) also sat out.