Pierce restates message

"Every time we lose games, it's not because of our effort, it's because we lose leads," said Pierce, who vented after Monday night's 96-89 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at the FleetCenter. "The team understands what it has to do. It's got to come from each and every individual. "My whole point is that everything doesn't start with me. Everything doesn't go through me. At the same time, every individual player has the responsibility to make this a better team and turn things around."

The Celtics, who play the Raptors tonight in Toronto, need to turn things around, having lost six of their last eight games.

Coach Jim O'Brien pleaded ignorance regarding Pierce's remarks.

"He's our captain," said O'Brien. "He's welcome to express his views. If that's what he feels, I'm sure he talked to the team about it. That's fine. That's why he's the captain. I think that he takes a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. He should say what he has to say." "Of course we are frustrated, because we are losing," said Pierce. "But the most frustrating thing about it is these guys in the room, we realize we have the potential to be much better. That's the frustrating part. We're better than a 7-10 team. I know that. Every guy in that room knows that."

O'Brien is not about to panic. He has a vision.

"I think this team has good depth," said O'Brien, "and we have a good chance to be a very good defensive team and we're trying to transform our offense. But it's coming along slowly. I'm not crazy about the turnovers. But I think the shot selection we've been getting has been very good, especially the three previous games. We shot something like 47 percent. That's a step in the right direction. There are things we have to improve to reach that vision."

"We are going to have to become a more mentally tough team," said Pierce. "Right now we're not where we should be. We haven't reached our potential."

The mental toughness, says Pierce, "has to come from the individuals. I think every individual has to take it on themselves to make this a better team. We understand that Vin [Baker] and I are going to take the majority of shots, but there are other things that have to be done to make us better, like our defense and our rebounding."

O'Brien doesn't think the problem is mental toughness.

"When I think of mental toughness, I think of guts, and we have plenty of guts," said the coach.

"We're disappointed as a group that we haven't finished off our opportunities. When we give the attention to our defensive responsibilities, I think things will turn around. We need to pay attention to details.

"I still have a lot of faith in this basketball team." . . .

Tony Battie and Raef LaFrentz did not scrimmage with the team yesterday. Battie, who has a cranky knee, is also bothered by the flu. "LaFrentz will be a game-time decision," said O'Brien. They are not the only Celtics hurting. Baker, according to the coach, has had left knee problems off and on the last 10 days. "It's filling with fluid," said O'Brien.