Barros in long-range plans

WALTHAM -- Before the Celtics considered signing Dana Barros to a 10-day contract, the players already had a nickname for the 37-year-old former NBA guard serving as a coaching assistant. "Player-Coach" they called Barros, "PC" for short. True to his nickname, Barros will be back in a Celtics uniform tonight at the FleetCenter, ready to play 12-14 minutes against the Atlanta Hawks.

Executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge said the Celtics will sign Barros to a 10-day contract this morning, making him eligible for the final game of the regular season and the playoffs. The paperwork was finished last night, and there was no reason to rush with the signatures. The Celtics also will sign developmental league player Ernest Brown, who will try to make the roster next season.

"If I stay within myself like I plan to do, I don't think it will be any problem," said Barros, the former Boston College star who last played in the NBA for the Pistons in 2001-02. "I'm not going to go out there and try to break people down like hot sauce off the dribble. I'm just going to play my role, knock down open shots if I get in there, and try to open the floor for those guys inside. That's all I want to do.

"Believe me, I don't want to play 25-30 minutes. My body probably can't handle that after 2-3 weeks of practice. I'm basically a coach until they ask me to do something."

Ainge has his own nickname for Barros: "Lloyd," short for Lloyd's of London, the famed insurance company. For Ainge and interim head coach John Carroll, Barros is insurance in case Chucky Atkins or Marcus Banks cannot play because of injury or illness. According to Ainge, Carroll will have the final call as to whether Barros makes the playoff roster.

"We just realized that he has a lot of skill and he has a lot of talent," said Carroll. "We felt it was a spot in our lineup that if anybody went down with an injury we were a little bit in trouble. So we were very fortunate that he's right here, with us already. It seemed like a very logical move to make.

"I guess it's been my idea for a long time. I just see Dana in practice doing certain things and say, `Wow, I'd rather have him in games than at practice.' Dana has been a tremendous asset to us on the bench. Now he might be able to be even more of an asset because he might be able to not only talk to guys on the bench, but at certain times be able to articulate things on the court, which is even more important."

Call him whatever you want, Barros sees little difference between his roles of coaching assistant and backup guard. He still plans to facilitate communication between the coaching staff and the players. He still wants to help develop younger players like Banks.

Barros has 13 years of NBA experience on which to draw. His career began in 1989-90 with Seattle and included five years with the Celtics (1995-2000). In his best season, 1994-95 with the Sixers, he averaged 20.6 points and 7.5 assists in 82 games, and in his last season with Detroit, he averaged 6.7 points and 2.7 assists in 29 games.

Older and wiser, he knows his limitations and what makes him valuable.

"I'm a totally different player," he said. "I don't even look to score anymore. I just hit the open shots and run the team. That's basically what I'm doing. At 37, my ego has been gone and I'm just doing those basics for the team.

"I know there are going to be some things that I struggle with. Running up and down the court with these guys is 10 times faster than playing with my friends. And that's a big adjustment for me. A guy looks open, and they close the gap like that. That's what probably scares me more than anything, the adjustment to the game speed."

Still, Carroll feels he can call upon Barros for some clutch shooting.

"It's like riding a bicycle for Dana. You get back on the wheels and start riding. He's always been a shooter. He's always been a scorer. He's a deep threat that causes teams to have to kind of guard him and opens things up for guys like Ricky [Davis] and Paul [Pierce] to kind of be able to drive the basketball. From that standpoint, he would be a logical weapon."

Though Barros celebrated his 37th birthday yesterday, Carroll figures the veteran will bring fresh legs and a fresh body to the court. Of course, the Celtics will see how Barros's body responds to game action. Pierce, who sat out of Monday's game to rest a sprained ankle, has confidence that Barros can make an immediate impact.

"I thought we should have given him a contract about a month ago," said Pierce, who will decide today whether he will play against Atlanta. "He can bring another guy who's played in the playoffs. He's a veteran with a lot of experience. If you look at this team, there's not a lot of experience out here. He can be another veteran leader on the court, especially at the key position of point guard."