Another day, another set of articles praising Brandon Bass. Good stuff here by Paul Flannery:
They call him ‘No Pass Bass’ and the Celtics don’t mind
"I don’t think Brandon has a problem shooting," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said last week. "When he gets it he’s probably going to shoot it. It’s a good thing though. He’s an aggressive player and that’s what we want him to be so he’s going to have good nights and he’s going to have bad nights too. He is human, but he’s factor."
Still, his assist totals are absurdly low, even at this early part of the season. Bass has played 168 minutes through six games and has just two assists. He’s attempted 68 shots, the second-most on the team and just one attempt behind Ray Allen. One might think that Bass is a black hole on offense, a ball hog who dominates the offense when he’s on the floor. That would be wrong.
Bass may not rack up the assists, but he rarely turns the ball over either. He has just three this season. Because his turnovers are so low, Bass’ Usage Rate (an estimate of possessions used combining field goals, free throws and turnovers) is only 21.4 percent, which means that he doesn’t dominate the ball nearly as much as it seems. For perspective, Bass uses about as many possessions as Allen and less than Garnett, Pierce and Rondo.
He's not without flaws. In this next quote Doc makes sure to mention defense as part of something he needs to work on.
Celtics' Bass earning minutes in crunch time - The Boston Globe
"The one thing we knew we were getting was energy,’’ Rivers said of Bass. "And we also knew we were getting a guy who could make shots. "His energy’s been great. He still has to pick up schemes defensively. I think he can be a great defender. Right now, he’s just struggling with our schemes. So, we’ve just got to keep drilling him.’’
I venture to guess that Brandon will have no retorts for his coach through the media as his former LSU roomate and predecessor might have. If anything, he seems willing to take criticism and grow from it.
'No Pass' Bass eager to assist - Boston Celtics Blog - ESPN Boston
“Somebody told me that one of my nicknames is 'No Pass Bass.' I want to continue to get set up by Rondo, but I want to be able to set other people up as well, you know? Return the favor.”