WALTHAM, Mass. -- Here are five observations of the Boston Celtics from training camp:

	Vin Baker may come off the bench, backing up Tony Battie.

1. Vin Baker might not return to his All-Star form, but if he doesn't, it won't be because of any weight problems. He is down to a for-him svelte 255 pounds and he looks terrific. He has been so consumed by working out with the Celtics coaching staff and their strength and conditioning coach that he still hasn't found a place to live in the Boston area. Baker is uber-pumped about the upcoming season, given his historical yearn to play for the Celtics as well as his own need to resurrect his spiraling career and reputation. Coach Jim O'Brien called Baker into his office before the start of camp and told him to relax and not worry about any expectations. It remains to be seen whether Baker will even start; O'Brien has been careful not to anoint him as his first-string center at the expense of the sensitive Tony Battie. But Baker is back to the playing weight he had when he was an All-Star in Milwaukee. That's a big first step.

2. Point guard? What point guard? The Celtics took a bit of a gamble in the Baker trade by dealing Kenny Anderson, whose play last season was a big factor in their surprising run to the Eastern Conference finals. Now, there are three point guards in camp and they all have two things in common: none is a real point guard, but all of them can shoot and shoot the 3-pointer, a must in any O'Brien offense. The coach says he's not worried about the loss of Anderson and, in fact, said Shammond Williams, rookie J.R. Bremer and veteran Tony Delk are all superior defenders to Anderson. That may be. But replacing Anderson's floor smarts and savvy will be difficult to do -- and he did improve defensively last season. Dramatically. Antoine Walker will get a lot of the ball-handling chores, and there's going to be an inside-outside emphasis this year for even more 3-point options. In the end, O'Brien's probably right.

3. The Bomb Squad. No one shot more 3-pointers last year than the Celtics. Not even close. The Celtics took 300 more 3-pointers than any team other than Orlando. Antoine Walker led the league in attempts with 645 but was not even in the top 50 in 3-point percentage. No matter. Walker has an unchanging green light, and you're going to see even more 3's from the Celtics this year. Whoever plays the point is going to take more 3's than the departed Anderson, who took only 33 last year. And what does O'Brien like the most about 7-foot-3 Bruno Sundov? You got it. His ability to shoot the 3. Look for Sundov to be used in much the same way the Celtics used Rodney Rogers last year. With Sundov and Vin Baker, the Celtics also will go inside a lot, move to their spots and await the outlet pass. Bombs away.

4. You'd hate to see this team without Pierce or Walker for any prolonged stretch. Thankfully for O'Brien, that never was an issue. Pierce went wire-to-wire last year and Walker missed only one game, a meaningless regular-season finale. They are so important on and off the court that for either to miss a lot of games could be disastrous. But both players have shown to be durable in their careers, and there's no reason to think this year will be anything different. But you wonder what O'Brien would do if he faced the injury situation that Phil Jackson has with Shaquille O'Neal or Larry Brown had with Allen Iverson. Knowing O'Brien, he'd probably welcome the challenge. But he'd rather not deal with it at all.

5. Kedrick Brown will get every opportunity to prove he's something more than a human pogo stick. The only one still left from the Celtics' three first-round picks in 2001, Brown is unbelievably athletic and should be granted an automatic pass into the All-Star Game dunk contest in Atlanta. But can he actually play basketball? While he's unlikely to start, there will be opportunities galore for Brown in the backcourt or at small forward; he can do either. He can be a tenacious defender; the Celtics still talk of his blocking Michael Jordan last season. But he's also only a year out of junior college and he saw little action last year. He couldn't even supplant Walter McCarty in the lineup at the end of the season. That's not a good sign. Brown will be ready to prove his worth this season. Otherwise, the 2001 draft for Boston (Joe Johnson and Joe Forte were the other No. 1s) will go down as a colossal wasted opportunity. And they won't be able to blame Rick Pitino. He was gone by then.

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.