Summer League Roster Set

July 10, 1997

The Celtics will take 13 players to Atlanta this morning for three days of games in the Hawks' summer league. Three veterans will make the trip - Eric Williams, Greg Minor, and Dana Barros, who will play in two of the three games because of his sore ankle. He will play point guard, Pitino said. Draft picks Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer will participate, although the extent of Billups's involvement is unknown because of his ankle sprain.


Also making the team are free agents Eric Murdock, Rumeal Robinson, Herman Alston, Lorenzo Coleman, Danya Abrams, Brent Scott, Anthony Tucker, and Travis Williams. "We think there might be four or five guys in this group with an outside shot to make our team," Pitino said. If the coach wants height, the 7-foot-1-inch Coleman has an NBA body, while Scott played for the Pacers last year after three years in Europe . . . Another indication that Radja is gonzo: He was said to be considering slips in the Athens harbor to moor his boat . . . Pitino wore a microphone during the practice, which not only made him easier to hear but gave the sound system a workout . . . Steve Hamer, who was with the Celtics last season, is trying to get a job with the Trail Blazers . . . Because Boston deliberately went under the cap by renouncing its own free agents, it will not have the $ 1 million exception available. Then again, the Celtics won't need it . . . Pitino had hoped to have Antoine Walker for the just-concluded camp, but that was not the case. The coach said Walker had a problem with his child, forcing him to stay in Chicago . . . The coach interrupted the practice to let his troops know which shots were OK and which were not. Alston had the misfortune to take a contested jumper, which is not a good thing after a team has worked through a press. "We're not going to work 94 feet to take a poor shot," Pitino said. "If you do that, you might as well take out a gun and blow your brains out. And if you pass up an open shot, that's just as bad. Learn to know the difference."