O'Brien has sixth sense about Williams

Williams (9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals in 27 minutes against the Hornets last night) is averaging 12.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in just 23.5 minutes a game. Compared with last season, Williams has improved his scoring average from 9.1 points, while his minutes have dropped from 28.7.

"If I didn't like him coming off the bench, I'd start him," O'Brien said before the Celtics' 81-73 loss to the Hornets at the FleetCenter. "I think he's worthy of starting and I think he should be a candidate for sixth man of the year, if he continues to do what he's doing as this year pans out."

The mention of the Sixth Man Award is just another way for O'Brien to show how much Williams means to the Celtics. When the Celtics traded Antoine Walker, part of the thinking was that Williams could pick up his scoring and become even more of a leader. For his part, the often defensive-minded Williams wouldn't mind a little extra recognition.

"It's an accolade that you would like to have in this league," said Williams of the Sixth Man Award. "This league acknowledges those players who win awards and score. I play defense. And you don't get too much acknowledgment for that."

Perspective on Pierce

O'Brien reminds people that the Celtics are still building toward the team they envision. Last night was no exception as he spoke about Paul Pierce (23 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and 5 turnovers in 37 minutes) still finding his way.

"I don't know if frustration would necessarily be the word that I would use [to describe how Pierce feels]," said O'Brien. "This is a work in progress. Paul and I talk about these things at length. He knows where we're heading, where we have to go, and what it will look like when we get there. He'll have more opportunities where he can catch the basketball without having one body on him or two bodies on him. He knows where we have to get and we're working on that on a daily basis."

Thumb nailed

Jiri Welsch (4 points, 2 assists in 13 minutes last night) suffered a severely sprained left thumb after yesterday morning's shootaround. Except for games, he will wear a splint around the clock. In last night's game, he had a piece of plastic taped to the back of the thumb . . . O'Brien made a pair of changes to the starting lineup, inserting Mark Blount at center and Kedrick Brown at small forward. It was the same starting lineup that opened the season. When asked about the change, O'Brien said, "I think that's our best starting lineup at this point in time." . . . When the NBA released the All-Star ballots last week, Vin Baker's name was not on it. But so far, O'Brien believes Baker is having an All-Star-caliber season. "I'm not surprised that they didn't include him because they based it on what happened last year," said O'Brien. "I would certainly hope he gets a number of write-in votes. If a coach gets to select somebody and he continues to play the way he is playing, I hope he can get some consideration." Baker had 12 points and five rebounds in 36 minutes against the Hornets . . . O'Brien praised the job by New Orleans coach Tim Floyd. Without Jamal Mashburn, Floyd has guided the Hornets to a 9-3 record. "Tim Floyd is a hell of a coach," said O'Brien. "I said that when he was at Chicago. People always talk about what he went through in Chicago. Well, he didn't really have a very good group at that point in time. He has proven for many, many years that he's one hell of a basketball coach." . . . Pierce will appear on Wheel of Fortune's NBA Week tomorrow with Rockets star Steve Francis and former NBA great Walt Frazier.