01:00 AM EDT on Monday, April 25, 2005

BY CAROLYN THORNTON
Journal Sports Writer

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Not a day goes by that Marcus Banks isn't getting an earful from somebody.

Sometimes it's from Celtics coach Doc Rivers. Other times, from one of the assistant coaches. Gary Payton is usually throwing in his two cents, handing the second-year point guard a report card after each game. Paul Pierce lets Banks have it sometimes. So does Ricky Davis.

"I get it every day, said Banks. "Even if it's not my fault, I still get it."

There have been some who have questioned whether any of the advice was ever going to sink in for Banks, who struggled in his rookie season last year and early this season.

But the 23-year-old has settled in over the last few months, becoming an integral part of Boston's all-important second unit.

That was no more evident than Saturday night in the Celts' 102-82 victory in the opener of the best-of-seven playoff series against Indiana. The Pacers may very well have been the ones celebrating were it not for the solid play of Boston's bench early in the second quarter.

Starting that period with Ricky Davis, Al Jefferson, Mark Blount and Delonte West, Banks helped the Celtics gain control, contributing 8 of his 11 points on 3 of 4 shooting in a six-minute span.

During a 13-4 opening run that gave Boston a 41-24 lead, the Celts' point guard also had two assists and a steal, in which he picked Eddie Gill's pocket on an inbounds play and then scored a layup.

"I think nobody has felt more pressure this year than Marcus," said Pierce during yesterday's practice at The Sports Authority Training Center. "He's a guy that every day was walking on thin ice, it seemed like. But the thing is he never got down on himself even though his coaches would get down on him, players would get down on him. He stayed strong and he came to work every day, and he's starting to see the fruits of his labor."

Banks struggled with consistency in his rookie season, playing under Jim O'Brien and then interim head coach John Carroll. He possessed blazing speed, but often did not know how to harness that energy, and as a result had difficulty running the offense.

Then Banks didn't make a great first impression on Rivers during last year's summer league, and he was nearly shipped off to the Lakers as part of the Gary Payton deal.

The challenge with developing Banks, said Rivers, comes from the fact that, at 6-foot-2, he is neither a true point guard, nor a true two-guard.

"He's a guard, in his body, that has to play the point position," said Rivers. "He's a scoring guard, he puts ball pressure on them, and my job has been trying to make him efficient enough that he can do what he does, but our offense can still run. We do run different things when Marcus is on the floor, but that's who he is. And my approach to it is I've got to put him in a position where he can be successful at what he does well and we can be successful at what we're trying to do at the same time, and that's been our give-and-take all year."

One thing Rivers immediately jumps on Banks for is when he sees him fall into what Rivers calls his "cool mode."

"He'll come in some games and lay back, and with that skill that he has, he cannot let that go," said Rivers. "When he comes on the floor, he has to be a full-court pressure guard. There's only 10 of them in this league. He's one of them, and that's an advantage that we have. We can't let him off of that. Now that's a lot of work, unfortunately, for him, but that's what he does well."

Admittedly tough to play for, especially if you are a point guard, Rivers -- who was a point guard when he played in the NBA -- knows there are times when he has probably pushed Banks too hard and that his confidence may have suffered.

Rivers often uses Banks as the scapegoat when he is actually trying to send a message to other players.

"He's been very responsive all year," said Rivers. "Some guys take it and some guys don't. And the guys who don't, usually don't stay around long. Marcus has been great. He's been told a lot this year, I would say it that way, and he's accepted it."

Banks, who says he was never ridden this hard in high school or at UNLV, has had to develop a thick skin and realize that through all the yelling, everyone is just trying to offer him constructive criticism.

And frankly, Banks doesn't want Rivers to stop barking.

"I think if he's quiet then obviously he doesn't care," he said. "If he's trying to tell me to do the right things, obviously he wants me to be a good player. So I'm going to listen to him."