Fans give Bibby an earful

Fans vent anger over comments

He could feel it.

He had to feel it. From the fans who barked at him at the Prudential Center and CambridgeSide Galleria to the cluster of media members lurking around his locker who turned him into a temporary claustrophobe, making him stop taping his ankles and instead put on his socks just to get out of the crowd.

He could hear it.

He had to hear it. The key of "boo" was for him and him alone, a gift from the fans he had insulted.

He could see it.

He had to see it.

It was staring him in the face. Section 2, Row 4. Dave Weigner and Calden Akin made the sign just for him.

Big green letters that said "Rondo's Better."

The words had long since spewed from Mike Bibby's mouth. The Garden, he said after Game 1, was full of fair-weather fans. In no time, the insult traveled through airwaves, cable networks, websites, blogs, and newspapers and finally recycled themselves in the form of retaliation behind the visitors' bench.

The poster wasn't nearly as bad as the scoresheet that backed it up.

For the second straight game, Rondo, the second-year point guard who practiced with Bibby before coming into the league, outplayed his mentor.

Rondo scored 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting with 8 assists (which gave him 17 for the series) in the Celtics' 96-77 victory.

Bibby also scored 12 points, but on only two field goals, although he was 8 of 10 from the free throw line.

"He gave us something to get excited about," said Weigner, 28, of Brookline.

"You don't want to wake a sleeping giant," said Weigner, who has been a season ticket-holder for 10 years.

This feeling is familiar to Bibby, who heard the same song from a different choir when he battled the Lakers as a member of the Sacramento Kings.

"I still get booed in LA," Bibby said. "So I'm not worried about getting booed here.

"People always find a way to talk, say something to you," Bibby said. "I'm not the type to back down."

Yesterday, he was actually the type to pile on.

After hearing what Kendrick Perkins had to say about his comments ("If you had a 2-for-10 shooting night, you'll say something like that, too.") he aligned his crosshairs on the Celtics center.

"I don't know where he all of a sudden got this tough streak from," Bibby said before the game. "His stat line was worse than mine. I haven't really seen him do much in his career. So until he does something or shows me something, I really don't think he should say anything."

Perkins chose to put the fire out, but it was more like spitting on the flames than grabbing the extinguisher.

"Man, I ain't got no comment for him," said Perkins, hours before scoring 8 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in 23 minutes. "Whatever. I'm just trying to win the game. I ain't got nothing for him. I'm still going to go to sleep tonight. It really don't bother me either way. Whatever to get his confidence right. I ain't worried about him. Obviously he's worried about what's going on over here, but I ain't worried about him. It's whatever. I'm going to end it right there."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers actually saw Bibby as being crafty. He is after all a veteran on a squad full of playoff newbies.

"He's probably doing all that for the good of his team," said Rivers. "Let him be the villain. He's done that before in LA, when he was with Sacramento. Clearly it didn't bother him a whole bunch."

Josh Childress, who is a first-timer to the playoffs, agreed that it deflected some of the pressure.

"I think that Mike obviously planned that," he said. "I think that was his attempt and to an extent it did. We were kind of laughing and joking about it, but we've got to come out in this type of game and perform and I don't think we did."

By the fourth quarter, Bibby had heard it all.

"Bibby!"

"Where is Bibby?"

And finally, "Rondo's Better!"

Weigner and Akin are sure Bibby saw their sign during the introductions. They had a flipside for the fourth quarter that said, "Fairweather like your game."

You have to wonder whether Bibby saw the small print. A salute to the fans in Atlanta.

It said, "Game 3 seats still available."