Free Press Look At Detroit's Destruction of the Celtics; Projo Too

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O'Brien indicates Perkins will play much sooner....

Brown ejected in Pistons' 104-89 win vs. Celtics 
October 9, 2003 
BY PERRY A. FARRELL
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER 
UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Just in the infant stages of putting in their offense and defense under first-year coach Larry Brown, the Pistons appear to have the makings of a team that will score more points than the previous two years. 
That's probably the Boston Celtics' assessment after the Pistons' 104-89 victory Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. 
Richard Hamilton led the winners with 18 points while Ben Wallace reached double figures for the second straight game with 17. Tayshaun Prince scored 12 as the Pistons evened their exhibition record, 1-1. They shot 49 percent from the field and forced 27 turnovers, resulting in 32 points. 
Kedrick Brown led Boston with 18 points. 
Referee Bennett Salvatore threw Larry Brown out of the game with 7:02 left in the second quarter after Brown protested a no-call for rookie Ronald Dupree, who got raked under the basket while attempting a reverse lay-up. 
After the first technical, Brown stared at Salvatore, and after a few seconds the veteran official called a second technical. Brown sat on the bench and told official Ed Malloy to have Bennett escort him out of the arena. 
Brown didn't address the media after the game. 
Before the game, Brown had a team meeting to let the players air their feelings about roles and accountability. John Kuester, Brown's assistant, said the results were evident. 
"He has gotten the guys to play a little bit harder, and realize that our offense is behind," Kuester said. "He has us in the right frame of mind, which is hard because you wake up and fly to Hartford, then drive here." 
Guard Chauncey Billups said: "I thought the meeting was good for us. We got to air our feelings and guys know they're accountable." 
The first half featured 32 turnovers, 12 points from Wallace, Brown's ejection and Prince getting poked above the left eye. The Pistons led, 51-47, at halftime. 
The poke above the eye seemed to ignite Prince, who went 3-for-3 from the field after the blow to finish with six points in the first half. 
Brown said he wants Prince to be more aggressive and assertive on the floor as a starter. 
"He can't just be satisfied with having his named called at the start of the game," Brown said. "He's going to be a very, very good player and I love the kid, but he has to realize that he's just as good as everybody else out there." 
Chucky Atkins and Lindsey Hunter created havoc in the second quarter, when the Celtics had eight turnovers. 
The Pistons outscored the Celtics, 33-22, in the third quarter. They shot 58 percent from the field (11 of 19) and took an 84-69 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 
HOPING: Mateen Cleaves (Michigan State) is one of four point guards in Boston's training camp. While Tony Delk isn't considered a true point guard, he'll probably start the season there, although Mike James started against the Pistons on Wednesday. 
As for Cleaves' chances? 
"They really haven't said a lot to me, so I just try to go out there and run the club and be a leader," Cleaves said. 
"I thought this would be a good situation for me because they like to run and push the ball up court and I've done that all my life." 


Celts can't finish the way they start 
01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, October 9, 2003 
BY CAROLYN THORNTON
Journal Sports Writer 
UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- The final score -- a 104-89 setback at the hands of Larry Brown's Detroit Pistons -- leaves something to be desired, as do the 28 turnovers that led to 32 of Detroit's points and Boston's 21.4-percent performance from the three-point line.
But Celtics coach Jim O'Brien feels he has plenty of other positives to take away from last night's preseason opener at the Mohegan Sun when his team takes the court for practice today.
"I thought we got off to a good start, the tempo we want to see," he said. "Our defensive aggressiveness in the first half. We chart deflections. Our goal is 35 a game. We had 29 in the first half, which is off the charts. I don't know if I've ever seen that before.
"We've got to work on everything, but I liked the work ethic and the attitude of our basketball team. And I think we're going to really be a good basketball team."
Miami Heat transplant Mike James and rookie Marcus Banks took turns leading Boston's quicker, livelier offense, with James starting at point guard in the first half and Banks starting in the second half. The duo combined for 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
"It was everything I thought it was going to be," Banks said of his first NBA experience. "I made a couple mistakes. I was kind of uptight, but I have a lot of learning to do. I'm looking forward to practice. I've got to learn to overcome those situations."
Veterans Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, Eric Williams and Mark Blount started with James, but as O'Brien said would happen, everyone got in on the action at some point during the night. Everyone grabbed at least one rebound, everyone except Williams recorded at least one assist and everyone except Walter McCarty scored at least one point.
"Obviously we turned the ball over too much, but this is the season where you make your mistakes and you learn from them," said Pierce, who finished with 13 points and 2 boards in 24 minutes. "I was really happy with the way we ran the ball. We had a lot of fastbreak points. We really pushed up-tempo and got a lot of easy opportunities, so it's a start. We can take some positive things out of this."
One of those positives was Vin Baker, back with the team after leaving in February to address his problem with alcohol. Playing his first minutes since Feb. 18, he entered the game at 4:03 of the first quarter.
The lighter, quicker center has lost the slow, clunkiness that described his play of last season and displayed considerably better court awareness in his 18 minutes on the floor.
Baker, who averaged just 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds last year, had amassed eight points, two rebounds and two assists before leaving the game at 6:26 of the third quarter after landing awkwardly on his heel.
"I'm glad to get this one under my belt," he said. "I was nervous my first game back, and I'm just glad that I was able to go out there and play with some intensity and make a couple plays. It's something to build on for (today) at practice."
Kedrick Brown, who sprained his ankle here in last year's first preseason game, avoided injury last night and finished with a team-high 18 points, 5 rebouds and 2 assists.
"I liked the way Kedrick Brown played," O'Brien said. "I thought he showed great instincts and tenacity."
Rookie big man Kendrick Perkins did his share of banging around and finished with one rebound and seven points on a free throw, a reverse layup and two baby hooks.
"He's a very capable player," O'Brien said. "I think he's going to come along very quickly. He's a quick learner. He wants to be better every day. He works hard. He's tough to guard in the low post. He has soft hands. He's been our best rebounder in training camp, and I think he's got a great future ahead of him."
DETROIT
Wallace 6-9 5-8 17, Prince 4-5 3-4 12, Campbell 2-5 2-2 6, Billups 4-11 2-3 10, R.Hamilton 6-9 5-6 18, Dupree 4-10 1-2 9, Williamson 2-5 3-5 7, L.Hunter 3-5 0-0 6, Atkins 3-5 2-2 8, Milicic 1-3 4-6 6, Ham 2-3 0-0 4, J.Hamilton 0-2 0-0 0, Guyton 0-2 0-0 0, T.Hamilton 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 37-75 28-40 104.
BOSTON
Walker 4-12 2-2 10, Williams 2-3 1-2 5, Blount 2-5 0-0 4, James 3-9 2-2 8, Pierce 5-8 2-3 13, Baker 3-3 2-6 8, Banks 3-9 1-2 7, K.Brown 8-10 0-0 18, McCarty 0-1 0-2 0, Perkins 3-7 1-2 7, LaRue 1-5 2-2 4, B.Hunter 2-6 0-1 4, Cleaves 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 36-78 14-26 89.
Detroit 26 25 33 20 -- 104
Boston 23 24 22 20 -- 89
3-pt. goals -- Det 2-7 (R.Hamilton 1-1, Prince 1-1, J.Hamilton 0-1, L.Hunter 0-1, Billups 0-3), Bos 3-14 (K.Brown 2-2, Pierce 1-1, McCarty 0-1, Williams 0-1, Banks 0-1, LaRue 0-1, James 0-3, Walker 0-4). Fouled out -- None. Rebs -- Det 55 (Wallace, Ham 6), Bos 49 (Walker 6). Assists -- Det 22 (Atkins, L.Hunter 4), Bos 21 (Pierce, Banks 3). Total fouls -- Det 23, Bos 34. Technicals -- Det coach L.Brown 2. Ejected -- Det coach L.Brown. A -- 5,465.