The season hasn't started and Pierce has already been quoted proclaiming the Celtics the team to beat this year, and he's also said if they're healthy, he sees them winning the championship.

He isn't backing away from those comments. It's that simple as far as he's concerned.

Except the defending champions are in Los Angeles. The Eastern Conference champions are in Orlando, and the team that finished the regular season with the best record is in Cleveland. Those teams have all made additions this off-season.

So where does Pierce get the confidence for these bold assertions?

"That's just how I feel," Pierce said at the Celtics' Media Day as Boston gets set to start training camp this week in Rhode Island. "That's our goal around here. I've seen when we're healthy what type of team we have. I mean, when we were a healthy team last year we were on record-breaking pace.

"That's just what I believe. People are going to say what they want to say about my comments or whatever, but I have total confidence in this ballclub and I just know that if we are (healthy) that's what's going to happen."

Celtics general manager Danny Ainge certainly feels good about the team he's masterminded this season, but he's not carrying quite the same chip on his shoulder that Pierce has apparently been wrestling with since Boston bowed out of the playoffs in the second round last spring.

"There's a lot of teams out there that have something to say about that," Ainge said when asked if he shares Pierce's view about the Celtics winning a title this year. "I think that there's a lot of work to prove it. I mean, we can talk all we want, but we've got to put it together on the court. So I don't comment about that. We'll see how our team is and how good they gel. But I'm not sure that there's any guarantee that if we stay healthy that we get a championship ring."

All indications from the Celtics are that Kevin Garnett will be healthy (last week he was cleared to play 5-on-5 pick-up games as he comes back from a right knee injury and off-season surgery) and Kendrick Perkins' shoulder is healed and ready. The squad that won 62 games last year got deeper with additions such as Rasheed Wallace in the front court and Marquis Daniels on the wing.

Pierce clearly thinks the Celtics were on pace for a championship when Garnett got injured last year, but Ainge, who had his own NBA Finals battles with the Lakers teams of the 1980s as a member of the Celtics , has learned over the years to let go of the previous season. Ainge won't even entertain thoughts of what might've been if Garnett were healthy.

"It doesn't matter," Ainge said. "Doesn't matter. I don't even worry about that. What good does that do? They won it. They get their championship ring. Coulda, shoulda, woulda doesn't even make any difference. We feel we're good. We feel like we have a chance to win a championship this year. We have to play well, and of course we have to have key players available or the chances go way down."

Celtics head coach Doc Rivers also seems to have made peace with falling short of their goal last year, saying, "I think the Lakers were the best team in the NBA last year. They proved it to us twice during the regular season. I've told my players that. With Kevin healthy and Leon (Powe) healthy, the Lakers were the best team last year, and they proved it. There's no way around that."

Pierce isn't quite buying that.

"I don't remember him saying it," Pierce said. "But I probably told him off when he said it."

It's doubtful the Inglewood, Calif., native was joining in the LA Lakers celebration, belting out a few choruses of Randy Newman's "I Love LA."

The Celtics hung a blank green and white banner above the court at their training facility in Waltham. It hangs next to the championship banners.

"We've got to fill it in," Pierce said before walking away from reporters yesterday.