Catcalls are reaching Celtics' Scalabrine

In case you're wondering, yes, Brian Scalabrine heard the boos Wednesday night. They were pretty hard to miss (although Doc Rivers said he didn't hear anything).

But there were plenty of boos when Scalabrine missed two long jumpers in the fourth quarter, one of them an air ball, and then returned to the bench, for good, with 6:06 remaining and the Celtics leading Utah by 4 points. That concluded an evening in which he played a shade more than eight minutes and had 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists and, a day later, plenty to say.

''That was tough," Scalabrine said of the boos. ''I really don't know where it's coming from. Maybe they don't respect me as a player. When I was in the game, I did some things well. I did miss two shots. But if fans here in Boston are concerned about people making and missing shots, maybe they should revert back to the '80s, when all those guys on the team did a lot of the little things to help teams win.

''Whether they respect me for things I do, that's on them. For me, I know what I do. Obviously, I'm not trying to miss a shot. But as far as playing the game, helping defensively, doing the little things that matter in the game of basketball, a real basketball fan would have said, 'Wow, he did this or that.' If they want to boo me, that's all right. If I miss shots, and that's what it takes for them to like you or not like you, then so be it."

This hasn't been the most productive span of time for the man the bloggers call ''Veal," whose most notable contribution to date has probably been the pick he set on Emeka Okafor to allow Paul Pierce free space to the hoop for the winner against the Bobcats the day after Thanksgiving. Scalabrine was Danny Ainge's signature free agent signing last summer -- $15 million over five years -- and much was made at the time that he also has the same brain type as Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, and Larry Bird.

That is where the similarity ends, not that Scalabrine ever would put himself in such rarefied company. But he has averaged only nine minutes and has had four games for which he dressed and Rivers never saw fit to put him in. His shooting, supposedly a strength, has been dreadful -- 32.5 percent -- and he refused yesterday to use lack of playing time as an excuse.

''I'm a professional. I come in here [to practice] and shoot every day," Scalabrine said. ''I work on my game every day. It's my job to make that shot. I think it is expected of me to make that shot . . . When you're out there, you want to step up and make plays. I didn't make my shots. That irritated me as a player. I was happier with everything else I did. It's just that my shot was off the mark and I really wanted it to fall.

''To me, they were booing me because I missed a shot," he went on. ''If I'm going to make shots, then don't cheer me. I think a lot of fans out there respect what I do. If they don't, there's nothing I can do about that."

When Scalabrine went to the bench for the last time, Rivers walked down to him and told him to keep taking the shot. ''I'll take that shot every time," the coach said. Scalabrine responded, ''It'd be nice to make one."

Scalabrine's shooting, Rivers said, is not a concern to him. ''He'll get better," Rivers said. ''I'm not worried about Scal." Rivers said he detected that Scalabrine was ''down on himself. But I thought he played great. I thought Scal gave us a great lift. You always remember the last bad thing you do when you walk off the floor -- and [I tried] to make light of it. I don't know if I succeeded."

Scalabrine noted the coach's empathetic attempt, but said that people are making too much of his shooting at the expense of all the ''little things" he does on the floor. (The pick on Okafor would be the classic example.)

''When it comes down to playing, you have to be responsible for a couple of things: You've got to know the game plan and you've got to try to do the game plan," Scalabrine said. ''If you execute the game plan, do what you're supposed to do, that's all you can do as a basketball player. My time is not gained in a game. It's gained out there in practice and, hopefully, I can get to the point where I am making [more] time. But if you look at who's ahead of me, I think we've got some stud players: Raef [LaFrentz], Al [Jefferson], Mark [Blount], and Perk [Kendrick Perkins]. All those guys are playing well.

''If you boo me because they [the Celtics] brought me in, maybe you should be cheering those other guys because those other guys are playing great," Scalabrine said.

Or maybe boo Ainge, who signed him?

''You'll see," Scalabrine said. ''Danny did a phenomenal job."

Ricky Davis again was not at practice, the second one in a row he has missed. As was the case with the first, Rivers said Davis had an excused absence . . . Tony Allen did not practice and watched the scrimmage between the big men and the small men (won by the big men) in a sweat suit. Rivers recommended on Wednesday that Allen shut it down, and said yesterday he has made that known to the higher-ups as well. He said a decision may come when the team begins its post-Christmas road trip Monday in Seattle. Allen, Rivers said, should accompany the team. ''I want him around the team," Rivers said. ''I think it's good for him." Allen has yet to play this season after undergoing knee surgery in mid-September. Every time he has been close to returning, his knee swells and pain returns. ''I think the whole month has been a setback [for Allen]," Rivers said. ''I don't see any improvement. I've been in the league long enough to know that if you go for a half-hour and then you can't practice or play, you're not playing any time soon. That's the way I look at it." . . . Rivers on the ''Fire Doc" sign at the TD Banknorth Garden Wednesday: ''That's late. I thought in Boston they were tougher than that. I thought it would come sooner," he laughed.