01:00 AM EST on Sunday, March 5, 2006

BY SHALISE MANZA YOUNG
Journal Sports Writer

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Blame Doc Rivers. He knows you want to. He's the one who makes the rotations; he's the one who doles out playing time.

He's the one who had Ryan Gomes pretty much wasting away on the bench for most of the season, then decided to put him on the floor only after the Celtics found themselves in a dire post situation because of injuries to Al Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins.

That desperation led to a discovery: Gomes is an effective player.

Sounds familiar, right? Four years ago, Gomes was about to be redshirted at Providence College when coach Tim Welsh put him in a game against South Carolina. Eureka! The kid could play.

"Blame me. I didn't play him, so it's probably my fault. Everything else is, so put that one on me, too," Rivers said at practice this week. But he also defended himself before Wednesday's game with the Heat. "I said about a week before the trade (that brought Wally Szczerbiak and Michael Olowokandi here and sent Mark Blount, Ricky Davis, Justin Reed and Marcus Banks to Minnesota) that Ryan was coming on and we had to find a way to get him on the floor. But I didn't mean this (starting because of injuries) honestly."

In his first three starts, Gomes had 23 rebounds. In Boston's first game after the All-Star break, at Utah, he struggled on the glass, with just 3 boards, but scored 13 points. Maybe that was jet lag, maybe the aftereffects of getting some of mom's cooking during the break, but when the Celts hit Phoenix, Gomes arrived.

Over the final three games of the West Coast trip, he had his first three career double-doubles: 11 points and 10 rebounds against the Suns, 13 and 17 against Portland and 19 and 12 against the Lakers.

When Boston returned home, Gomes became a hot commodity, surrounded by cameras and tape recorders after practice on Tuesday, and he did an interview on sports radio station WEEI on Thursday. NBA.com took notice, as well, putting him third on last week's rookie rankings list, behind Hornets guard Chris Paul and Charlotte guard Raymond Felton.

The Trail Blazers game, with the 17 rebounds, was particularly memorable.

"The first quarter, I knew I had a lot (8, 4 each on the offensive and defensive glass), and at halftime I had 12. Max (former player and current Boston broadcaster Cedric Maxwell) said, 'Go get 20. Not a lot of people get 20.' Then (strength and conditioning coach) Walter Norton is telling me, and I'm saying, 'OK, I'm going to get 20 this quarter,' " Gomes said.

It didn't quite work out that way, but 17 isn't anything to sneeze at.

Though he is undersized (listed at 6-foot-7, 250 pounds) for a power forward -- he stayed at PC for his senior season in part to make himself into more of a small forward -- Gomes said he feels comfortable at the 4, and Rivers doesn't disagree.

"It's been working for me. (Traditional power forwards) might be stronger, but I think I can face them up, not that I count on the three, but for the big guys, when I face up, maybe they're not used to seeing that (or) maybe I'm quicker to the basket," he said.

Wednesday night against Miami, Gomes showed both sides of his offensive game, hitting an 18-foot baseline jumper that temporarily gave Boston the lead late in the fourth quarter, and also tipping in a Paul Pierce miss a couple of minutes later.

"He tried to learn both (the 3 and 4) positions, which was probably unfair to him, but that's what we wanted, to see if we could use him because we thought it would be big for us if we could get him there because then we could force matchups with Paul. I think he can still play some 3, but that's not who he is. He's a 4," said Rivers, making comparisons to Charles Barkley, who used his weight as a weapon, and journeyman reserve George Lynch.

With Jefferson back from the ankle injury that sidelined him and Perkins back in a week or two, Rivers has the tough but good decision of how and for how long to play each of the players.

"I'll be happy when they come back, you know, if we continue to do well and I can get minutes," said Gomes. "Starting, it's big, and it is big because of what I've been doing, but when they come back, coming off (the bench), starting, I'm still going to do the same things -- focus on my rebounding and my playing hard and whatever the coaches are asking for."

Rest assured, if he returns to the bench, Gomes won't be the last one off it anymore.

"When guys come back, they'll come back and play, but so will Ryan," said Rivers.

smanza@projo.com / (401) 277-7340

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the seventh installment in a series of stories on former Providence College star Ryan Gomes during his rookie season with the Boston Celtics.