THE NBA PLAYOFFS : Who’s Boss? Check the Celtic Huddle

Ask somebody to identify Jimmy Rodgers, and they’ll probably either tell you that he sang the song “Honeycomb” or played running back for Nebraska. They’ll never guess that the Mr. Rodgers in question happens to be coach of the most famous basketball team in America.

See the guy by the Boston Celtics’ bench--the one with the tri-color kinky hair and the eyebrows that go from ear to ear? The guy squatting right next to K.C. Jones, we mean. The guy screaming instructions in the huddle, or haranguing at the referee, or cuffing the Celtic player on the back of the neck.

That’s him. That’s Jimmy Rodgers, head coach of the Boston Celtics. The brains of the outfit. The don of the black-shoe mob. Play-caller, decision-maker, butt-kicker and cheerer-upper of the publicly held basketball corporation that still has a chance to take its 17th National Basketball Assn. championship of the last 32 years.

By no means do we mean to discount the presence or contribution of that smart old engineer who keeps the green machine smoking, K.C. Jones, or that big mouth with the stogie protruding from it, the one sitting upstairs, Red Auerbach. They are the fully pedigreed champions and official leaders of the Boston Celtics, as successful an organization as ever came to work dressed in jockstraps and sanitary socks.

Jimmy Rodgers, though, is the man behind the scenes--for another week or two, at least--who imperceptibly has been calling the shots for the Celtics this season. He is the assistant coach who sits at Jones’ right hand, dispensing advice, recommending plays, taking charge of the timeouts, drawing up the X’s and O’s so that Robert X knows which O to set a pick on, thereby permitting Larry X to dribble around another O--Adrian O, or Isiah O, or some other handy opponent--for the shot that might win the game.

Then there is the alter ego of Jimmy Rodgers, the guy he becomes during his day job. He is director of player personnel for the Celtics, committed to discovering young prospects or old pros who can be of help to Boston on its perfunctory bid for the championship. It is Rodgers who helps unearth a Brad Lohaus as a second-round draft choice, or convinces upper management that Jim Paxson is just the midseason replacement part that the Celtics need.

“Jimmy Rodgers knows his basketball, and he knows his basketball players,” Kevin McHale of the Celtics says. “He has a knack for knowing what sort of player would respond to what sort of approach, or knowing which player’s game might develop if he got a chance to play with a team like the Boston Celtics.”

High praise. The Celtic players think a lot of their assistant coach. They think so much of him, in fact, that most of them are absolutely delighted at the prospect of him becoming their head coach. Because that is precisely what is about to occur.

Jimmy Rodgers is the head coach of the Boston Celtics. He takes over the minute the clock runs out on the Celtics in these 1988 National Basketball Assn. playoffs.

The Eastern Conference finals resume here tonight with Game 5 and the Celtics and Pistons tied at 2 games apiece.

Rodgers was appointed head coach a couple of weeks ago, when K.C. Jones announced that he had had enough, that he was kicking himself upstairs to have smoke blown at him by big daddy Red. The Celtics didn’t miss a beat. They named Jimmy Rodgers head coach for 1988-89 at the very same press conference, placing him in the dark-sneakered footprints of Auerbach, Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn, Satch Sanders (briefly), Dave Cowens (just as briefly), Bill Fitch and K.C.

A risky appointment? Well, depends how you look at it. From an experience standpoint, Jimmy Rodgers has seen service as an NBA head coach--uh, nowhere. Since graduating from the University of Iowa in 1965, the only head-coaching job Rodgers has ever held was a three-year gig at that famous basketball factory, the University of North Dakota, where he had understudied for Fitch.

Later, he became an aide at Arkansas and a combination coach-scout with the pro-ball Cleveland Cavaliers. He even worked as player personnel boss there for a while. Then he rejoined Fitch, as an assistant with the Celtics, and stuck around in 1983 when Fitch went out and Jones checked in.

Ask the Celtics how they feel about Rodgers’ lack of experience as an NBA head coach, and they don’t want to hear about it. It is absolutely meaningless to them. “The man understands basketball,” says Larry Bird. “He knows the X’s and O’s. He’s good at working with players. I’m really looking forward to playing for him. I’ll miss K.C. in many ways, but we’re not going to lose anything with Jimmy Rodgers in there.”

Bird had no qualms about playing for Jones, but he was eager to work for Rodgers at least once before he retired. He and the other players like Rodgers’ approach to the game. Some of them, privately, feel that were Rodgers running things this season, the Celtics would have been using their reserves more, and therefore would have been better prepared for the rigors of the playoffs, where their bench has been no factor. Younger guys like Lohaus and top draft pick Reggie Lewis figure to play more under Rodgers next year.

Rodgers says, “This is K.C. Jones’ basketball team, and K.C. knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s got his own particular style, and he’s been extremely successful with it. I’ll do things my own way, but I’ll also keep in a lot of what K.C.’s gone with. Anyway, we’ll worry about next year next year. We still have this year to worry about now.”

The Celtics almost lost Rodgers before they could promote him. He was due to become the new coach of the New York Knicks, before Rick Pitino, but Boston kiboshed the deal by not letting the Knicks take Rodgers unless they forked over a first-round draft choice. Rodgers was steamed about that for a while.

Now, he’s running the show. Officially, he might not take over until next season, but keep an eye on the Celtics during emergency strategy huddles on the sidelines. You might notice that Rodgers is the one barking out assignments, or bawling out players, or mapping out plays. This is not some assistant coach whose job is to ask the official scorer how many timeouts the team has left. This assistant coach coaches.

Says Rodgers, “I’m just doing my job.”

For the Boston Celtics, an equal opportunity employer.