Share, and share alike: Minus 'Toine, Pierce & Co. spread duties

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Share, and share alike: Minus 'Toine, Pierce & Co. spread duties
By Steve Bulpett
Friday, October 24, 2003

Some time late Sunday night, when Paul Pierce [news] ascended to the Celtics'
throne following the exile of Antoine Walker [news], he had a decision to make
as to how he would run the green kingdom.

     While he says there really wasn't a conscious call to make, it's clear
Pierce is running a more inclusive administration.

     ``It's more team-oriented now,'' Eric Williams said after yesterday's
practice. ``Before it was just Antoine and Paul as far as the offense and
everything went. But Paul understands that he can't do it all on his own and
he has to be more of an all-around player. It's that way with the leadership,
too.

     ``I think it's better like this. It's better when it's a team thing,
because that makes everybody a part of it. Yeah, it's the older guys who have
to step up and maybe call someone out when it's needed and help the younger
guys, but with the group of guys we have I don't see that as a big problem.
It's mainly just letting everybody know they're a part of this and that it's
their team, too.''

     Pierce blanched at times in the past when things weren't as open as he
would have liked. Now he's sharing the load.

     ``I think when it's all said and done, people are going to look to me for
leadership, but I think I have to make this a situation where everyone feels
responsible,'' he said. ``This isn't just my team. It's all of ours.

     ``When I look at this team, I see we have other veterans who can take on
a leadership role, too. It just wasn't their position before. I mean, you look
at Eric Williams and Walter McCarty [news] - those are guys who people will
listen to. I don't have to be, like, hey, I'm the sole guy out there who's the
voice of the team. I'm going to voice my opinion when I think it's right, but
I think it's going to come from a number of guys.''

     And Pierce is prepared to be a visual leader, as well. One team official
noted with pleasure that Pierce was in early for the first practice after the
trade Monday, hitting the weights and putting in extra work. It's part of the
package.

     ``That's the tradition,'' said Williams. ``The tradition of the great
champions is like that. Michael Jordan worked hard and played sick. Larry Bird
played hurt and worked extra on his own. When your leaders are doing that,
then there's no excuses for the rest of the players. That's always going to
set the tone.

     ``Paul's taking the initiative. He's taking that next step to how a
champion is supposed to do things, and it's great to see him develop like
that.''

     Said Pierce: ``I think when you lead by example it shows more than
leading by words. Once other guys can say, `Our best player's in here doing
that,' it makes them think that they should be in here, too. I don't want to
just tell people to do things. I want to show them that I'm working hard.''

     That's not to say this hard work thing is a recent addition to his
routine.

     ``It's so important,'' said Jim O'Brien. ``It's easy to follow a leader
like that. But this isn't new.

     ``Last year I remember one of our first days off in the regular season.
We'd just had a grind of about 12 days and we gave them a day off. I was in
the office and I looked out of my window and Paul was on the treadmill. I
knocked on the window and said, `What the hell are you doing? This is your day
off.' He said, `There are no days off.' And I think that's wonderful. I think
not only our team but everybody else that observes Paul can use him as a role
model.

     ``The other thing is that I think it's very smart on his part because
he's going to have to play the most minutes on the team. He's got to rebound
well and defend well, and every defense comes at him. So it's important for
him to be able to sustain himself for the long haul.

     ``But working hard like that is key. It's the No. 1 ingredient for the
pure leader.''

     Pierce led by example, too, when he went for 14 points, eight rebounds
and nine assists in 30 minutes in the 16-point preseason win over Minnesota
Wednesday.

     ``Paul's been here awhile, and the rest of the players have great trust
in his abilities,'' O'Brien said. ``And he had such a strong game (Wednesday)
night in every phase. He had nine assists, and we have a category we call
adjusted assists - where he makes a pass for a layup and the guy gets fouled
or he passes it to a wide-open guy who misses the shot - and in that he had
15. We're not even talking about assists that lead to assists.

     ``When you go out and play like that, that's leadership.''

     Added Williams: ``It's all part of how Paul's going to run things. He's
passing the ball, so everyone should be passing the ball.''
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx