Can Brandon Bass still improve?

[bfrombleacher]

Sure, he's a bit old, but last year at 26/7 (born April) Bass improved significantly on team defense.

His rebounding and team defense still have significant room for improvement. With KG on the team, an amazing locker room and (from what I see) fantastic chemistry, it seems Danny has created the ultimate greenhouse for players to improve.

I hope Sully forces him to improve on his rebounding.

[Fafnir]

Incrementally I'm sure he can. But he's not going to become a high level starter or a low-level star player, his capabilities are largely what we saw last year.

[CelticsFan9]

I think if he can become a more versatile offensive player.  Do some pick and ROLLS as opposed to pick and POPS with Rondo.  Use a pump fake and then drive.  Pull an Avery Bradley and cut to the rim.  I could see him averaging maybe 15 or 16 a game if he can expand his offensive game.

[kozlodoev]

His rebounding and team defense still have significant room for improvement.

You're thinking about the beginning of last year.

[Fafnir]

I think if he can become a more versatile offensive player.  Do some pick and ROLLS as opposed to pick and POPS with Rondo.  Use a pump fake and then drive.  Pull an Avery Bradley and cut to the rim.  I could see him averaging maybe 15 or 16 a game if he can expand his offensive game.

He's not going to average 15 or 16 a game unless we feature him offensively more. That's not going to happen with our current roster and offensive options all ahead of him.

He's going to get around 12 shots per 36 and I don't see him getting much above .572 TS% he had in Orlando with the amount of jumpers he takes.

[bfrombleacher]

His rebounding and team defense still have significant room for improvement.

You're thinking about the beginning of last year.

The defense part is true. Insane how far he got. I took his rotations on defense towards the end of the season for granted (the system is an arse to master).

He still bites on pump fakes, getting a shooters to the foul line a few times in the playoffs I recall.

Rebounding, though, is a weakness for him. But if anybody'd be learning from a rookie, Bass would be one of them.

I think if he can become a more versatile offensive player.  Do some pick and ROLLS as opposed to pick and POPS with Rondo.  Use a pump fake and then drive.  Pull an Avery Bradley and cut to the rim.

He's not going to average 15 or 16 a game unless we feature him offensively more. That's not going to happen with our current roster and offensive options all ahead of him.

He's going to get around 12 shots per 36 and I don't see him getting much above .572 TS% he had in Orlando with the amount of jumpers he takes.

@Celticsfan9: I'm not sure at all (as in could see it going either way) if he can improve significantly on the offensive end like you said, but I hope he does.

@Fafnir: Even if we don't feature him, if he can take on a bigger role when called upon...

[Eddie20]

Thinking outside the box here, but I did like what I saw of him in defending James. I think him at the 3 is something we can do on occasion. Especially when he's playing along two good shooting perimeter bigs (KG and Sullinger), which can still create spacing offensively. That said, I would like him to work his back to the basket game, especially in these situations. Plus, we're bound to see the frontline of James, Bosh, and Battier against Miami and would love for him to be able to put a more skilled post game to use.

A lot of small ball talk, but going big at times could yield some nice results.

[AB_Celtic]

Thinking outside the box here, but I did like what I saw of him in defending James. I think him at the 3 is something we can do on occasion. Especially when he's playing along two good shooting perimeter bigs (KG and Sullinger), which can still create spacing offensively. That said, I would like him to work his back to the basket game, especially in these situations. Plus, we're bound to see the frontline of James, Bosh, and Battier against Miami and would love for him to be able to put a more skilled post game to use.

A lot of small ball talk, but going big at times could yield some nice results.

I think Miami are going to be the ones going small, so Bass will be defending him anyways, just at the 4. I see Miami going with this lineup a lot...

Chalmers
Allen
Wade
James
Bosh

...so we'll counter with...

Rondo
Bradley
Pierce
Bass/Green
Garnett

I actually think Green is likely to see more time against LeBron though. Green is taller and more athletic, and in my opinion more suited to defend LBJ. Doc will figure it out though, and I'm positive both Bass and Green will each see some time against LeBron.

[Eddie20]

Thinking outside the box here, but I did like what I saw of him in defending James. I think him at the 3 is something we can do on occasion. Especially when he's playing along two good shooting perimeter bigs (KG and Sullinger), which can still create spacing offensively. That said, I would like him to work his back to the basket game, especially in these situations. Plus, we're bound to see the frontline of James, Bosh, and Battier against Miami and would love for him to be able to put a more skilled post game to use.

A lot of small ball talk, but going big at times could yield some nice results.

I think Miami are going to be the ones going small, so Bass will be defending him anyways, just at the 4. I see Miami going with this lineup a lot...

Chalmers
Allen
Wade
James
Bosh

...so we'll counter with...

Rondo
Bradley
Pierce
Bass/Green
Garnett

I actually think Green is likely to see more time against LeBron though. Green is taller and more athletic, and in my opinion more suited to defend LBJ. Doc will figure it out though, and I'm positive both Bass and Green will each see some time against LeBron.

I actually think Battier would be in there instead of Chalmers when it matters, and we'll see something along the lines of this:

Wade
Allen
James (PG duties)
Battier
Bosh

[Fafnir]

@Fafnir: Even if we don't feature him, if he can take on a bigger role when called upon...

What do you mean by bigger role?

He's already shown the willingness to take repeated shots in the playoffs, and if those don't fall he'll attempt to drive to the rim.

He's not shy about shooting, but his talents don't really call for us to get him more shot attempts. Hitting him on the roll once or twice a game instead of a pop won't alter the kind of player he is.

[Fafnir]

Thinking outside the box here, but I did like what I saw of him in defending James. I think him at the 3 is something we can do on occasion. Especially when he's playing along two good shooting perimeter bigs (KG and Sullinger), which can still create spacing offensively. That said, I would like him to work his back to the basket game, especially in these situations. Plus, we're bound to see the frontline of James, Bosh, and Battier against Miami and would love for him to be able to put a more skilled post game to use.

A lot of small ball talk, but going big at times could yield some nice results.

I don't see Bass ever playing at the 3. Pierce or Green are going to be in the game for most of the mintues and they'll be the quick forward.

[Fafnir]

Thinking outside the box here, but I did like what I saw of him in defending James. I think him at the 3 is something we can do on occasion. Especially when he's playing along two good shooting perimeter bigs (KG and Sullinger), which can still create spacing offensively. That said, I would like him to work his back to the basket game, especially in these situations. Plus, we're bound to see the frontline of James, Bosh, and Battier against Miami and would love for him to be able to put a more skilled post game to use.

A lot of small ball talk, but going big at times could yield some nice results.

I think Miami are going to be the ones going small, so Bass will be defending him anyways, just at the 4. I see Miami going with this lineup a lot...

Chalmers
Allen
Wade
James
Bosh

...so we'll counter with...

Rondo
Bradley
Pierce
Bass/Green
Garnett

I actually think Green is likely to see more time against LeBron though. Green is taller and more athletic, and in my opinion more suited to defend LBJ. Doc will figure it out though, and I'm positive both Bass and Green will each see some time against LeBron.

Yeah with Green on the roster and available to play he's likely who we'll see on the floor when other teams go small at PF against us.

[CelticG1]

I could see him improving. Thought last year was a huge step. When you start to get more minutes you can actually work on improving certain aspects of your game. He's only gotten real minutes last year and before that for other teams he literally just focused on a midrange jumper.

He has improved that dramatically and his free throw shooting has improved dramatically. I don't see why after a season of getting big minutes that he can't improve on other aspects of his offensive game and become more versatile.

He may not get a bigger role on the C's or be featured in the offense more but if he became more versatile/ less predictable it would make him and our team much much more than efficient and dangerous offensively.

[csfansince60s]

Thinking outside the box here, but I did like what I saw of him in defending James. I think him at the 3 is something we can do on occasion. Especially when he's playing along two good shooting perimeter bigs (KG and Sullinger), which can still create spacing offensively. That said, I would like him to work his back to the basket game, especially in these situations. Plus, we're bound to see the frontline of James, Bosh, and Battier against Miami and would love for him to be able to put a more skilled post game to use.

A lot of small ball talk, but going big at times could yield some nice results.

I think Miami are going to be the ones going small, so Bass will be defending him anyways, just at the 4. I see Miami going with this lineup a lot...

Chalmers
Allen
Wade
James
Bosh

...so we'll counter with...

Rondo
Bradley
Pierce
Bass/Green
Garnett

I actually think Green is likely to see more time against LeBron though. Green is taller and more athletic, and in my opinion more suited to defend LBJ. Doc will figure it out though, and I'm positive both Bass and Green will each see some time against LeBron.

I actually think Battier would be in there instead of Chalmers when it matters, and we'll see something along the lines of this:

Wade
Allen
James (PG duties)
Battier
Bosh

Our D against this lineup would be pretty interesting.

Bradley on Wade and Rondo on Allen would make for some very interesting theater.

Rondo would relish hounding Allen into submission. That I would look forward to seeing.

[bfrombleacher]

@Fafnir: Even if we don't feature him, if he can take on a bigger role when called upon...

What do you mean by bigger role?

He's already shown the willingness to take repeated shots in the playoffs, and if those don't fall he'll attempt to drive to the rim.

He's not shy about shooting, but his talents don't really call for us to get him more shot attempts. Hitting him on the roll once or twice a game instead of a pop won't alter the kind of player he is.

He's like a solid 3rd option now?

If he gets a go to move of some sort...sweet spot where he can shoot off the dribble...he could potentially be an okay 2nd fiddle in bad teams but a 3rd option on this team.

Sorry I'm not the best at communicating my ideas.