Palos Verdes’ Mark Acres Shakes ‘Timid’ Image, Belts Way Into Celtics Lineup

Acres of misinformation surround Mark Acres, the Boston Celtics’ newest backup big-man.

Consider:

- The Celtics’ media guide claims Acres played at Carson City High. Actually he became an All-American at Palos Verdes High, leading the Sea Kings to a top-five CIF ranking from 1978 through 1981.

His father Richard was a one-time coach at Carson, which probably accounts for the error in the press guide.

- A Dallas Mavericks assistant coach termed Acres “timid” when he tried out at a Mavs summer camp two years ago. But last summer at the Celtics summer camp, Boston Coach K. C. Jones was impressed most by Acres’ ability to bang with Greg Kite.

- When Acres was signed, many Bostonians felt he would follow Kite, Rick Robey and Hank Finkel and become the latest member of the Celtics’ Big Stiff Brigade.

But no less an authority than Larry Bird said Acres deserves all the time he gets because he makes the right decisions.

- After Acres learned to love to hate the Celtics growing up in Los Angeles, you’d think he’d feel a little queasy about playing for the Lakers’ hated rival. Never. He says he can change allegiances instantly.

The only thing people seem to get right about Acres is his value to the Celtics, who host the Lakers in Boston on Friday.

The one-time great from Palos Verdes has secured a significant role at backup center and power forward, averaging 16 1/2 minutes, 4 points and 4 rebounds in 15 games.

He logged nine minutes and grabbed two key defensive rebounds in a 140-139 early season, double overtime win at Washington, and in five consecutive games from Nov. 13 through Nov. 20 he played all of the fourth quarter.

His quality backup time has allowed starting center Robert Parish to get the rest he desperately needed last season.

“He’s doing well enough that Robert gets rest and that tells the whole story,” said Coach Jones. “He’s doing such a big job banging on the boards, playing good defense and taking good shots that he’s earned the time out there, and that helps Robert Parish a great deal.”

Jones is a quiet coach, and when Acres missed two key free-throws in the second overtime at Washington, then saw only one minute the next game, he thought he might be in the doghouse.

But his fourth-quarter string soon came, and now Acres thinks he’s a full-fledged Celtic.

“I think I’ve pretty much played my way onto this team,” he said recently after practice at Boston’s Hellenic College. “I am very comfortable with the Celtics. I’m gonna come in and fill my role and not screw things up for everybody else.”

It’s others who seem to make the mistakes. Six-foot-11, 250-pound muscle-man Kite, another backup big-man, ran into Acres in practice recently, sidelining the rookie for a few games. “Kite just beats people up,” said Richard Acres, the rookie’s father and agent.

Richard Acres said he recognizes Kite’s place in Boston, but his mention of the backup from Brigham Young points more to the comparisons people have made between Kite and Acres.

Although he’s filled in at both center and power forward, Acres at first understood his role as a fill-in for injured forward Kevin McHale. With McHale back, Acres, who said he’s most comfortable at power forward, wondered if he’d remain a Celtic. Others pondered Kite’s future.

Acres need not have worried.

With Boston writers and fans clamoring for Kite’s release, the Celtics instead cut a guard, UC Santa Barbara grad Connor Henry, leaving four guards on the roster. Acres wasn’t considered, according to Jim Rodgers, Celtics assistant coach and player personnel director.

“We felt comfortable at guard and that’s why we did what we did,” Rodgers said last week from Detroit. “Connor Henry is a player, but we felt we should go the other direction (in favor of big men).”

Rodgers said he doesn’t anticipate further roster changes and stressed that Kite and Acres are playing prominent roles.

He also noted the importance of Acres’ makeup. “In addition to his basketball, we like him very much as a person,” Rodgers said. “He’s fit right in. He’s very attentive to what we’re trying to do and he’s very pleasant.”

Which doesn’t surprise Richard Acres, who briefly coached his son in high school and college. “When you look at Boston,” the elder Acres said, “they have three players from BYU (Kite, Danny Ainge and Fred Roberts) and Mark from Oral Roberts, and I think that says something about the kind of players they want--class.”

Brigham Young and Oral Roberts. One a Mormon institution, the other charismatic.

Mark Acres said he is a religious person and that his parents wanted him to attend Oral Roberts. “They were all for that Christian atmosphere,” he said.

Acres also said he’s heard countless religious jokes. But a punch line never sapped the punch from his game.

In four years at Oral Roberts, Acres became the school’s all-time leader in field-goal percentage (.564) and blocked shots (164), second in rebounds (1,051) and third in scoring, averaging 18 a game and totaling 2,038. He was named an honorable mention All-American four times.

In 1984 he led Oral Roberts to the Midwestern City Conference title and the school’s first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 1974.

The following spring he figured the NBA was next on his glory list. He never thought people questioned his ability.

But after drafting Acres in the second round (40th overall) along with first-round picks Detlef Schempf, Bill Wennington and Uwe Blab, the Mavericks suggested Acres head for European pro ball.

“We liked his hustle for a big guy but we thought he needed seasoning,” said Dallas player personnel director Rick Sund. “He came to our summer camp and we felt he needed work. We thought he should go overseas and play and we told him that. It’s really tough to say whether he could have outplayed (the other draft picks).”

At the time Acres felt indifferent about the players drafted ahead of him.

“I went to camp and thought, ‘Hey, so what if they have three first rounders, I can make the team anyway.’ I really worked hard. But it was just a numbers game. They didn’t really need me.”

By drafting Michigan standout Roy Tarpley in the first-round in 1986, Dallas indirectly afforded Acres even less chance to make the team. And when Dallas’ summer camp came around again, Acres didn’t work as hard, he recalled, because he knew he could play in Belgium under a guaranteed contract. And he did.

Not everything in Europe was guaranteed, however.

“It was difficult to adjust,” he said. “The first year was very tough socially. I was there by myself and I was lonely. I’d come to my apartment and there was nothing on TV in English.

“Basketball lasts only four hours a day. The rest is free time so you had a lot of time thinking about what you could be doing anywhere else.

“Sometimes (reading) USA Today was the highlight of my day. They spoke French where I was but I had taken three years of Spanish. I picked up the basics as far as how to order food and take care of myself, but conversation-wise I was lost.”

American friends, a new girlfriend and a second season in Belgium offered Acres “the time of my life,” he said.

But last April the Celtics called. Forddy Anderson, their Oklahoma-based scout, had watched Acres at Oral Roberts in Tulsa, and Anderson recommended the Celtics sign Acres as a free agent.

He was ready. “It was definitely my number one goal to get to the NBA when I was drafted,” Acres said. “Things didn’t work out (with Dallas) and I wondered if I was ever gonna get a shot. Then this year I decided I had two years behind me and I said, ‘Let’s just go the distance.’ I stuck it out and it paid off.”

Born in Inglewood, raised in Laker purple and gold tradition, Acres is now wearing Celtic green, intending to play a part in Boston’s 17th championship.

He recently purchased a house in Palos Verdes, but he said an NBA championship ring would make him forget the Lakers.

To get the ring Acres and the Celtics again must outlast the other Beasts of the Eastern Conference: Milwaukee, Atlanta, Detroit and Atlantic Division rival Philadelphia, which handed Boston its worst loss this season, 116-85.

Acres recorded his biggest game against the 76ers, mostly because the Celtics were out of it early. But his 14 points and nine rebounds did not go unnoticed.

“He was one of their lone bright spots,” said 76ers General Manager John Nash. “I was impressed. He is very physical, and frankly he is better than most would have expected.”