Danny Ainge isn't turning his phone off or anything, but it's fair to say he's not pursuing trades as eagerly as he did in his first eight months on the job.

``I'm not as active as I have been,'' the Celtics director of basketball operations said. ``You never say never, but I'd like to see the group of guys we have right now grow a little and see how things develop.

``I don't know that this is the final team we're looking for, but I think they're very good for where they are at this stage. I like our energy and enthusiasm and the way the team's playing the game.''

Those words sound good to Paul Pierce, who believes the C's are actually a bit ahead of schedule with this latest collection.

``I feel definitely confident,'' he said. ``We've got a great mix of young guys and veterans, and I think things are really starting to turn around.

``I said probably after the All-Star break is when we're going to start really coming together, but if we can continue to move the ball and concentrate on the little things that are going to get us wins - especially on defense - we'll be fine. But the new guys are really picking up things faster than we thought, so hopefully before the All-Star break we can make a run . . . before we have to go out West.''