ESPN analyst: C's aren't good.

Byline: Bill DOYLE

COLUMN: TUNING IN 

Greg Anthony can't believe Doc Rivers dared to say at the end of the regular season that he should be fired as head coach if the Celtics don't make the playoffs next year.

"That's saying a lot," the NBA studio analyst for ESPN said.

"I don't know that they'll make the playoffs next year," Anthony said. "I don't think it's a given."

Had the Celtics landed Greg Oden in the lottery, Anthony would have liked their playoff chances. But he wasn't even sure if adding Kevin Durant would have been enough.

"Durant becomes a little trickier because of the position," Anthony said. "He's more of a small forward. That's where their strengths are now."

Celtics captain Paul Pierce swings between small forward and shooting guard, but he's built more for the former. Wally Szczerbiak and Gerald Green are also threes.

Anthony disagrees with another Rivers' contention.

"I don't think their roster right now, if healthy, would have made the playoffs this year," Anthony said.

Anthony, an NBA point guard for 11 seasons, thinks the Celtics were too young, especially at the point.

"You bring in Sebastian Telfair to be one of those guys," Anthony said, "and now he's not on your roster. When you're relying on really young players, the learning curve for those guys, it fluctuates so much. Some guys take far more time to grow and develop. I'm not sure they've gotten there, and we'll know a lot more after this offseason."

In an interview prior to Tuesday's lottery, Anthony figured the Celtics needed to draft Oden to become a legitimate championship contender.

"Ultimately," he said, "it's going to determine whether they get there or not under the tenure of Danny Ainge."

Yikes!

On ESPN just prior to the Celtics finishing fifth in the lottery - ruining the prediction of ESPN's Jon Barry that they'd win it and losing any hope of drafting Oden or Durant - Anthony repeated his contention that the Green needed Oden.

"With him, they return to relevance," Anthony said. "Without him, they'll be mired in mediocrity."

Mediocrity here we come.

Anthony isn't sure what to make of Ainge's regime.

"A lot of it depends on what the philosophy is," Anthony said. "Are they still in the rebuilding mode or do they feel they're a playoff team? I don't see them as a viable playoff team as presently constructed. I don't think they're one of the teams that you look at as up and coming. They've still got issues with the point guard and still got a lot of young players who have yet to develop and have to learn how to win. It's hard to really judge because I don't know what the expectations are. If it's to be a playoff team, after the run he's had there, obviously, I don't think he's been very successful."

Durant won the player of the year awards, but Anthony remains convinced Oden will win more NBA championships.

"To me, it's a no-brainer," Anthony said. "I don't think there's any scenario out there that would allow me not to take Greg Oden No. 1. That's not a knock on Kevin Durant at all. Kevin Durant is a phenomenally special talent and is going to be a great, great player. Look around our league, and all the great skill players from the perimeter, as great as they are - the LeBron James, the Dwyane Wades, the Tracy McGradys, the Kobe Bryants, without that dominant low-post presence those guys aren't winning championships."

"I tell people all the time, `The reason they have three seconds in the paint is because ultimately that's where so much is decided.'"

Reid anchoring Indy 500

Marty Reid will anchor ABC's coverage of the Indianapolis 500 for the second time at noon Sunday.

"There's only one of us who gets to call the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, and I'm the lucky stiff," Reid said. "And believe me, it is an honor every time I think about it. Every time I'm over at the track I have to pinch myself."

Don't you wish you felt so good about your job?

Retired Johnson joins ESPN

Former Carolina Panthers receiver Keyshawn Johnson announced his retirement from football yesterday to join ESPN as an NFL studio analyst. Johnson worked the NFL Draft for ESPN last month.

NAME: BOSTON CELTICS