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Marquis Daniels’s return to Indiana didn’t go as planned, between Earl Watson’s block and the Celtics’ loss. (Brent Smith/Reuters ) |
Celtics Notebook
Approval comes from on high
INDIANAPOLIS -Although he resides in his home state as president of the Indiana Pacers, Larry Bird keeps close tabs on the team he always will be identified with, and he lauded its revamped roster.
“Picking up [Rasheed ] Wallace is going to help them, and we know Marquis Daniels, he’s going to be a major plus for them,’’ Bird said before his Pacers beat the Celtics, 113-104, at Conseco Fieldhouse last night. “I talked to [Celtics president] Danny [ Ainge] and told him if you can get him, you’d better get him, because he will make another bench player that can get a lot of things done.
“Overall they are very talented and they are going to win a lot of games.’’
The Celtics’ current Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen are often compared with Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish in the 1980s.
Bird was felled by back injuries while McHale fought foot troubles in the latter part of his career.
“We got to the Finals five times in a short period of time,’’ Bird said. “And I always said that was a curse really, because we didn’t really have time to recover and we’d go right back into the season and I knew that going along that I played two [straight] years of playoff basketball and I knew it was going to catch up with me.’’
Daniels returns
Daniels spent three productive seasons in Indiana, leaving as a free agent to sign with the Celtics in August. And the six-year veteran did not leave Indiana without admirers, including his former coach, Jim O’Brien, who lauded Daniels for exactly what the Celtics appreciate.“We miss Marquis,’’ O’Brien said. “He was a great teammate to have, a wonderful guy to coach, and he has an innate understanding how to score the basketball and the little nuances of offensive basketball. A great slasher.
“He’s a great pickup for them because he’s a guy I’m sure appreciates being on a championship contender, appreciate who he is playing behind. . . . I think of a number of people they could have brought in who are veteran wing players and I don’t think they could have done any better than Marquis Daniels.’’
Daniels, who is averaging 6.8 points in 10 games for the Celtics, played 20 minutes off the bench in the loss and contributed 9 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds.
Welcome to the bigs
Garnett wasn’t exactly welcoming to Pacers rookies A.J. Price and Tyler Hansbrough when he visited Indianapolis this summer to film a Wheaties commercial. As Garnett exited Conseco Fieldhouse, Indiana assistant coach Lester Conner asked him to walk over and meet Price and Hansbrough, who were working out. Garnett wasn’t exactly friendly. According to Conner, Garnett continued to walk out and remarked, “[Expletive] your rookies.’’ Said Price, laughing, “That pretty much let me know where I was at on the totem pole. I thought I was going to have a chance to talk to him for a second so I can say, ‘What’s up?’ and introduce myself. But I guess he shot that down real quick.’’ . . . Shelden Williams finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes, mostly in the first half . . . Kendrick Perkins had 11 points and 13 rebounds, his first double-double of the season. . . . In the house was Doc Rivers’s son Jeremiah, a guard for Indiana University . . . Indiana’s 31 free throws were the most against the Celtics this season. 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
