Paying Doc a visit

Celtics coach Doc Rivers returned to Boston last week in preparation for the start of training camp Oct. 4. That meant meetings with executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge and plenty of jokes about the possibility of Rivers playing point guard for his young team. There seemed no better time to ask Rivers about his plans for the Celtics, his relationship with captain Paul Pierce, and changes in the team's code of conduct.

Q. What will you do differently this season, your second with the Celtics, given such a young team?

A. ''I'm going to be who I am. I'm not changing. I will change some things that we do offensively and defensively, nothing huge. I like a lot of the things we did. I just think we have to get better at doing some of those things. We have to improve defensively, big improvements. That doesn't mean we're going to change schemes. We just have to commit to it as a team. I didn't think we were a very good executing basketball team. Until we execute well, we're going to struggle winning tight, big games. I thought we won our share of those during the regular season. During the playoffs, I thought [poor execution] came back to haunt us offensively, especially because we were bad defensively."

Q. Have you talked to Pierce this summer, considering the frustration he had with your approach last season?

A. ''I've talked to him a couple times. It was great. I was extremely frank with him, but it was nothing like we were sitting around screaming and yelling at each other. The one thing Paul must understand is there is a difference between criticism and coaching. One of the things I made clear was I'm going to continue to coach him. That's the only way this team can improve. For us to be better and to take the next step, Paul has to understand that. I think he will. I think he's trying to. Paul has to keep wanting to improve on his game. I cannot allow him to settle where he's at. I don't think that helps this team."

Q. Do you think he was receptive to what you were saying?

A. ''I do. And none of these were long talks, but they were good enough talks for me. I don't make it a practice to reach out and talk to guys a bunch during the summer, to be honest. One was a scheduled meeting and the other one was just happenstance. I'm not real concerned with that [relationship]. I think he understands where I'm coming from now. Last year was Paul's first year of change. In the past, he's pretty much had the keys. He still does, but I'm asking him and I was on him last year to use them responsibly."

Q. What do you think of the team Ainge has assembled?

A. ''Honest, I don't know. We're extremely athletic, but we're also extremely young. I don't know if we're the youngest team in the NBA, but I would say we probably are by far. But we're talented. We're not young and bad. We don't have young players and a lot of projects. Gerald Greene right now is the only project being young. Al Jefferson is young and he can play. Kendrick Perkins can play. Delonte West can play. Tony Allen can play. Marcus Banks can play. So, you know there are a lot of good things about that youth."

Q. Is Jefferson ready to start?

A. ''That's up to Al. He has to be a better defensive player, especially at that [power forward] position. He has the ability to start."

Q. Are you concerned about the point guard situation without a veteran like Gary Payton?

A. ''Yeah, I'm concerned, but not probably as much as everyone else. I've heard, 'Doc, are you going to play point for your team this year?' about 20 times. I'm hoping someone steps forward between Dan [Dickau], Delonte, and Marcus. I'm hoping two of them step forward so we can have a pretty consistent lineup. One of the things I didn't like [last year] was we never had a consistent rotation at that point guard spot. It was Gary and either Delonte or Marcus. Some of that was due to injuries and some of that was due to play. I would love to make that a rotation where the first and second guy who wins it, it stays that way."

Q. What might the starting lineup look like? What combinations are you considering?

A. ''There's a lot of combinations that we can play. I can't wait to get that on the floor and see how those different combinations look and what works and what doesn't work. We can go big. We can go small. [Brian] Scalabrine could be at the 3, Paul at the 2, is a huge lineup. Ryan Gomes is another guy you can play at small forward with Paul at shooting guard and we can force some matchups. That's something I like. I would love Paul to be at the 2 and one of these guys [Scalabrine or Gomes] can step forward and play and be comfortable at the small forward that helps us with our size, our rebounding. But I'm concerned about that lineup defensively."

Q. Do you like entering a competitive training camp with 18 players under guaranteed contracts?

A. ''I don't mind it, but 18 is a lot. And we have a lot of work to do. We have to be a better executing team and that's going to take time and a monotonous amount of going over the same things. That's going to be demanding for me to demand out of them. Players get tired of running the same play 50 times. Having a lot of guys there will probably slow that process down. Although we may have 18 guys come to camp, they won't be there long."

Q. What about the code of conduct Ainge mentioned after last season ended with a first-round exit from the playoffs and some regrettable on-court behavior?

A. ''I don't know if it's a code of conduct or code of character. It's not like these rules. It's just how we need to be. There's a certain way we need to be and there's not anything written down. There will be things that we'll make clear about how we should act as people on and off the floor and as teammates on and off the floor. It's the way you have to be to win. If there was [a name], it would be the Respect Rules. Respect your teammates. Respect your coaches. Respect yourself. Respect your family's name. It's more of that than anything like you have to tie your shoes before you go outside. There's no grade school rules here."

Q. So, will players be disciplined for tardiness and similar offenses?

A. ''If you're late for practice, then you're disrespecting your team and you're disrespecting yourself. That won't be outlined, but it will be understood. Everything will be case by case. It always has been, but there's things that I'm not going to allow. There's nothing that's going to be written. Everything is going to be on the respect basis. We had fines last year that no one knew about. I kind of liked that. It should be internal. If somebody is suspended, obviously you'll know. Hopefully, we don't have that kind of stuff."

Q. Are you surprised Payton has lasted this long on the free agent market?

A. ''Yeah, I am. I'm disappointed and I'm surprised. I've made several calls on his behalf. Just the fact that he was such a professional for us last year, as far as the way he played the game. I don't know what Gary's asking. We had to find out if our young guys could play and we couldn't do that with Gary here. That's taken that blanket away, like in Charlie Brown. But that's the risk we have to take. We need to find that out for our future. I can think of five or six teams he would be perfect for. With all of these teams Gary would be a backup and I don't know if Gary wants to be that yet. I know last year he didn't. So, that might be [why he's not signed]. But I do think by the season he will have signed with someone."

Q. Will it be a successful season if the young players make major strides, regardless of record?

A. ''No, it's always about wins and losses. The only way we can make strides is by winning. My young guys will not buy into that stuff about, 'Well, you guys are young and you just improve and that's OK.' That's not OK. We want to win. We want to make the playoffs and win our division. I said that to someone and they said, 'You've lost your freaking mind.' And I said, 'Well, we'll see.' And we will see. I really don't know how a lot of our young guys are going to play. But I do think if we can act like a team on the floor with these young guys, then we can win some games."