Pierce grabs the reins and goes

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Pierce grabs the reins and goes
By Steve Bulpett/Celtics Notebook
Saturday, November 22, 2003

PHILADELPHIA - After several days under interrogation for his and the Celtics'
slow starts, Paul Pierce [news] decided to stop trying to figure things out
last night. Playing with the necessary athletic abandon that had been missing
as he tried to think his way around the court, he went for 33 points, seven
rebounds and six assists.

     ``That's how I wanted to be tonight,'' Pierce said after an 87-85 loss to
the 76ers. ``I wanted to come out there and be the aggressor, kind of set the
tone. I think that's just how I've got to be for the rest of the year, man.
I've just got to be out there setting the tone for our team, give us the
confidence on both ends of the court that we can go out there and win on
anybody's court.''

     Allen Iverson didn't like the fact it almost happened on his.

     ``It's just fun for basketball,'' he said of Pierce's outburst. ``When
something like that is happening, I hope I'm home in front of the TV watching
him do it to somebody else instead of doing it to us. You like it when I see
it on TV. You just don't like it when he's doing it to your team. I wish him
all the success all the time unless he's playing us.

     ``Then I hope he doesn't get on a roll like that. He'd probably say the
same thing about me.''

     Ford livin' it up

     Former Celtics player and coach Chris Ford didn't have to ponder the
question long. Does the 76ers' new assistant coach think it's strange that
ex-mate Danny Ainge is now head of the Celtics?

     ``Well, Kevin (McHale)'s running a team,'' he said before the Sixers took
on the Celts last night. ``How much crazier could it be?''

     With that, Ford laughed heartily. He does a lot of that these days. He's
very much enjoying his return to the NBA. He's living in Martgate, N.J., where
his family had already set up what was essentially a summer home. Wife Kathy
spends four days a week back in their Lynnfield digs, teaching piano. She
flies to New Jersey on her off time.

     ``This opportunity is absolutely unbelievable,'' said Ford, a southern
New Jersey native. ``I'll be 55 in January and I'm home. It's great. This is
the first time I've been at the Jersey shore at this time of the year since I
was 18 and I went off to Villanova, and it's beautiful. I'm here at the Jersey
shore where I want to be.''

     After spending the last two years coaching at Brandeis, Ford got the call
with the Sixers when Randy Ayers replaced Larry Brown as head coach. Having
been a head coach with the Celtics, Milwaukee and Clippers, Ford's happy being
a few seats down the bench.

     ``Being at Brandeis was very enjoyable,'' Ford said. ``I was helping Jeff
(Cohen, the AD) out of a bind, and working with the kids was really nice. It
was kind of different for D-3 because we traveled so much. Usually in Division
3 you're in vans and buses, but in our conference we were flying.

     ``This is just ideal. I could see doing this for a long while. This is
nice. Randy says, `Oh, you're all cool, calm and collected sitting over
there.' He's up there sweating like a pig. But it's great.''

     Ford did try to stay in the college game, but nothing came of interviews
with La Salle and Northeastern.

     No rushing the kids

     With the Celtics' rebounding woes, some eyes have turned to rookies
Brandon Hunter [news], who led the NCAA in rebounding last season, and
Kendrick Perkins [news]. But O'Brien doesn't want to rush things.

     ``Certainly Kendrick and Brandon Hunter are rugged guys,'' he said, ``and
hopefully they can come along at some point in time where you can insert them
and they can be a factor. They're really, in my estimation, not ready for that
right now.''
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx