Doc on D&C: Rasheed's 'not going to change'

Celtics coach Doc Rivers made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Thursday morning and talked about Rasheed Wallace's recent behavior, including a run-in between the player and coach during Sunday's win over Cleveland. "I don't know what exactly happened with Rasheed," Rivers said. "I know he felt that the official said something to him. Once that started, I could see Rasheed was not coming back [emotionally], let's say. Once you get to the that state where emotionally you're over the line ... usually when the players on our team go up to him when he starts going off on officials, he backs away from the players. But once I saw where he was at with our own players, and then with me, I knew I just had to get him out of the game and sit him down and play him another day. I waited until the next day [to talk to him about it]. Rasheed understands the next day that those are things he can't do or shouldn't do. But there are times he can't help himself. Unfortunately that was one of them."

Asked if Wallace crossed the respect line, Rivers said: "At that moment he did. But Rasheed has a lot of respect for his teammates, he has a lot of respect for me. But listen, when you get that emotional, I don't think there is a line. Clearly, he crossed it. But it's something we dealt with and talked to him about. But he is who he is. He's not going to change."

Also on Sunday, Celtics guard Tony Allen barked at LeBron James after the Cavaliers star missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that could have won the game. Rivers said that didn't concern him. "I really didn't, because I don't think Tony started that. I thought LeBron said something to Tony, and Tony responded. And basically Tony was saying I don't care who you are -- for the most part; he said it in more colorful words than I just did. But I don't think Tony really started that talk. I don't mind a guy not backing down, and Tony will never back down."

Addressing his team's inconsistent play and responding to a question about whether the C's can turn on the switch for the playoffs, Rivers said: "If we win a couple more games, that means we've won over 50 games. When you do that, I don't know if you've had that switch off a lot. You can look at it like that. ... We have been on and off this year at times. But we've been on more than off, record-wise. We've lost games clearly that we shouldn't have lost. But overall, I think this team will be ready."

Rivers said he'll be following Tiger Woods at the Masters this weekend. "I want to see him win, because I want to see him go back to where he was," he said, referring to Woods' pursuit of golf's record for major titles.

To read more highlights, check the Green Street blog. To hear the interview, click on the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.