Pitino Calls Battie Outstanding Young Man; Anderson Disagrees With Pitino; Bird Likes The Fans And Walker

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

                                [The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
                                [Boston Globe Online / Sports]


                                CELTICS NOTEBOOK
                                On crutches, Walker can't stand sitting

                                By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 04/20/99
                                <snips>
                               

                                They'll wait on Battie

                                According to Pitino, the official
                                organizational view on Tony Battie is a
                                simple wait and see. The forward was
                                arrested and charged with assault early
                                Saturday morning at a North End
                                club/lounge. A police officer outside of
                                Cosmopolitan - a popular Friday night site
                                for several Celtics - said Battie did not
                                respond to a request to move his illegally
                                parked car. The officer reported that
                                Battie instead tried to drive away when an
                                arrest was attempted, necessitating the
                                officer to pull a service revolver on the
                                Celtics forward.

                                ''I think he's an outstanding young man
                                and I believe in him,'' Pitino said before
                                last night's game. ''I'll let his lawyer
                                handle it and see what shakes down from
                                there.''

                                According to sources, Battie was outside
                                the club in his car, waiting for his
                                brother. He was approached by the officer,
                                who told him to move. He did not move,
                                explaining that he was waiting for his
                                brother. When asked to move again, he
                                turned up his music, which apparently
                                annoyed the officer and prompted him to
                                pull the gun.

                                In any case, it was not a good
                                night/morning for Celtics and their
                                friends. Also arrested in an unrelated
                                incident was Paul Pierce's roommate.

                                They didn't shape up

                                Someone asked Pitino what he thought of
                                the team's injuries this year. He said,
                                ''If we came in [to training camp] in
                                great shape, all of us, and we had Vitaly
                                [ Potapenko] from the beginning of the
                                year, we would have made improvement,
                                percentagewise, on the 36 wins [from last
                                season]. And we would have come close to
                                being in the hunt for the playoffs.'' ...
                                After Pitino made that comment and began
                                his next one, Anderson walked behind him
                                and overheard his comment on muscle
                                strains and pulls. ''They come from not
                                stretching properly, not lifting properly,
                                and not being in good shape,'' the coach
                                said of those injuries. Anderson, out with
                                a pulled hamstring, took exception and
                                commented that he lifted weights all
                                summer ... By the way, Anderson said he
                                never heard from the fan who felt snubbed
                                by him just after the lockout ended.
                                Anderson had offered to fly the fan to
                                Boston and give him two prime tickets to a
                                Celtics game... Larry Bird was asked about
                                the boos that rained on Walker before
                                Friday night's buzzer-beater. ''If you get
                                tired of him here, you can always send him
                                to Indiana; we'll find a place for him.''
                                But, he said, he would like to have some
                                of the more ornery Boston fans in
                                Indianapolis to charge up his team.
                                ''Sometimes guys need to be put in their
                                place,'' he said.

                                This story ran on page E06 of the Boston
                                Globe on 04/20/99.
                                © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.