Boston hires Glenn Doc’ Rivers as its new coach.

BOSTON (AP) – The Boston Celtics coaching job was only open a few hours when Danny Ainge decided that Doc Rivers was the guy he wanted.

That doesn’t mean the Celtics’ basketball boss didn’t give it a lot of thought.

“The search probably started at the 1988 All-Star Game,” Ainge said on Thursday after hiring his teammate from the Eastern Conference team that year. “A friendship probably started there, and a mutual respect.”

Rivers was hired to replace interim coach John Carroll, who was let go a day after the Celtics were swept from the first round of the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers. Carroll inherited the job when Jim O’Brien quit Jan. 27 because of philosophical differences with Ainge.

“As soon as Jim O’Brien left, I started contemplating what we might do for our future,” Ainge said. “Doc was someone I thought of right away.”

Ainge announced on Monday that Carroll wouldn’t be back. Then Ainge went to Orlando to interview Rivers.

“Danny Ainge called me and asked me to coach the Boston Celtics,” Rivers said. “If you like basketball, I don’t know how you could say no to that.”

Rivers played 13 seasons for the Hawks, Clippers, Knicks and Spurs, starring on the 1986 Atlanta team that the Celtics beat in the second round on their way to their last NBA title.

He retired in 1996 and worked as a TV analyst before becoming the head coach in Orlando in 1999. In his first season, he was the NBA’s coach of the year after leading a team with four undrafted starters to a .500 record.

Rivers went 171-168 in five seasons with Orlando before he was fired in November when the Magic opened the season with one win and 10 consecutive losses. He has been working for ABC as an analyst ever since, a job he will keep through the NBA Finals.

Rivers, 42, takes over a team that is a distant memory of the once-proud franchise that amassed a record 16 NBA titles. The Celtics made the playoffs this year with a 36-46 record and lost four straight to Indiana.

But the real problems were under the surface, starting a year ago when Ainge was hired in the middle of the playoffs to clean house – a job he has done with relish.

Ainge, in a series of trades that turned over most of the roster, jettisoned star Antoine Walker and several O’Brien favorites who stood out for their hustle and defense. O’Brien had had enough by January.

Carroll took over and lost 12 of his first 13 games before turning things around in time to grab the last playoff berth in the East. But four quick losses later, he was gone, too.

In Rivers, Ainge has his first chance to work with a coach of his choosing.

“I know this isn’t a job you walk into and you walk into the (NBA) Finals. I know that fully,” Rivers said. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my relationship with Danny.”

Rivers said he wanted the team to run the floor more than it has in the past without becoming soft on defense. He said he wanted to get help for Paul Pierce, who was frustrated at the end of the season with his inability to do everything himself.

“When you lose games, you get down,” Rivers said. “I don’t think he was down on himself – he was down on losing.”

Rivers said he welcomed the challenge of coaching Ricky Davis, the talented but occasionally troublesome guard who has had trouble fitting in on four separate teams.

“Some of his judgments at times have not been great,” Rivers said. “But if I’m in a game I would rather have a guy (like Davis) who is capable of taking a game over.”

Four players – Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, Kendrick Perkins and Walter McCarty – sat in the front row at the news conference. After his opening remarks, Rivers turned to them and said, “You’ll find me with no agendas. I just want to win.

“However we find a way to do that, that’s what we’re going to do.”

They seemed receptive to the message.

“I think,” McCarty said, “it’s the first move in, hopefully, the right direction.”

AP-ES-04-29-04 1901EDT