No chants for success

Scalabrine seeks to quiet backers

Brian Scalabrine: ''An irritant''

With 45 seconds left and the Denver Nuggets ahead by 10 in the Celtics' first home loss of the season Friday night, some fans at TD Banknorth Garden began chanting "SCAL-A-BRIN-E" for a player on the bench who didn't get in. While the chants were flattering to forward Brian Scalabrine when he first heard them when he played for New Jersey, he would rather the Celtics fans cheer for the team than him individually.

"We are in Boston," Scalabrine said recently. "It detracts from the focus. We are the Boston Celtics, and for the crowd to cheer for an individual takes away from our team and what we are trying to do. Let's just say it's not ubuntu [the South African word meaning unity].

"The way I see it, it takes away from what the Boston Celtics are trying to do, the focus that we have as a team, and how as a team we don't believe in any individualism. We believe in being as a team."

Yet Scalabrine did give fans a reason to shout in the Celtics' 102-97 overtime win in Milwaukee Saturday night. With Paul Pierce in foul trouble early, Scalabrine entered in the first quarter and played solidly, scoring 5 points on 2-of-2 shooting, nailing his first 3-pointer of the season, and having one assist, one turnover, and three fouls in 13 minutes. Scalabrine also played in OT after Kevin Garnett fouled out.

Coach Doc Rivers, who gave the team yesterday off, thought Scalabrine's play went beyond the box score. "Scal is an irritant," Rivers said. "He gets into people's skin. He plays so hard. He just plays team basketball. Nothing is going to stand out with his numbers, with his play, except to coaches. You love him because he does everything to win the game."

Scalabrine had not played in the previous four games before notching season highs for points and minutes Saturday. The eighth-year forward hadn't played crucial minutes in a while and said "the key is to keep your composure."

"I'm not thinking about it from an individual perspective," he said. "I'm just thinking [that] you've got to keep your composure. And if you go out there and get an open shot, knock it down.

"It was good. Paul has been logging a lot of minutes so Doc wanted to spell him early. I got to go in early, which I liked. I just tried to play real solid out there, just identify that [Pierce, Garnett, and Ray Allen] are our stars and we have to play off of them."

Rivers has said that the chanting of Scalabrine's name by the home fans seems to make him tentative offensively.

"It makes it hard on him because there is a weight when people start chanting his name," Allen said. "You are more conscious to go out and make the right play."

Allen said he recently asked Scalabrine when the chanting began. It started during the 2001-02 season when he was a rookie with the Nets. With Scalabrine's role and production increasing in each of his four seasons with New Jersey, the chants seemed to have merit back then.

The Celtics signed Scalabrine to a five-year deal worth $15 million in 2005 after he averaged 6.3 points and 4.5 rebounds for the Nets during the 2004-05 season. After playing in 71 and 54 games in his first two seasons with Boston, the 6-foot-9-inch, 235-pounder averaged a career-low 1.8 points last season, playing in just 48 games, the fewest since his rookie season.

Scalabrine also has played sparingly this season, which adds a level of complication to the late-game chants. "More times than not I've gone home and thought about how it's a more mentally challenging way to play basketball than I'm up for," Scalabrine said. "You feel uncomfortable while you're out there playing when all these people are out there chanting. From a mental side . . . you have to get over that and try to be successful while they're doing that."

And Scalabrine agreed that the fans' enthusiasm has made him tentative offensively.

"When there is so much focus on the individual, it makes you want to refocus on the team," Scalabrine said. "You can chant all you want, but I'm still going to pass to the right guy and I'm still going to play basketball the same way. It's not going to change the way I play. It's going to make me more focused on the team."

Allen believes the best way to silence the chanting is for Scalabrine to score a couple of quick baskets, but he knows that is difficult for a reserve forward who is often coming in cold.

"It's tough on him because there is a spotlight placed on him," said Allen. "He feels as though he has to go out there and play good."

Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com