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It’s been an up and down year for Boston Celtics undersized power forward Brandon Bass. His numbers are down across the board and it’s plain to see that Rajon Rondo’s absence has affected him more than anyone else on the floor from an offensive stand point. With Rondo on the floor, Bass had it easy by simply catching and shooting from Rondo’s crisp feeds. It was a comfort-zone that Bass fell into and he has struggled to adapt without the All-Star playmaker aside him on the floor.
Recently Bass has slowly started coming around. He is certainly getting and taking less shots, but his effort and contributions have been at least on a slightly larger scale. The Celtics desperately need Bass to provide strength down low even if the low post game is not an area where he particularly excels.
Lately Bass has started to show some new and improved moves even if they are few and far between. He’s been able to capitalize on missed shots and hit the offensive glass for a Celtics team that currently ranks nearly dead last in the league.
Bass doesn’t need to be a 20 point scorer or even a 15 point scorer; granted, it wouldn’t hurt an anemic offense if he was able to provide that type of scoring. What the Celtics need from Bass is simply size and consistency. There are times when Bass is still soul searching on the floor and simply trying to do way too much for a guy that made his living on pick-and-pop offense and nothing too complicated or extensive.
The month of March has been nowhere near amazing for Bass, but he’s starting to at least get back to basics. Over his last 10 games he’s averaging a decent 8.4 points per game to go along with 6.0 rebounds and a just over one block. His numbers are still nowhere near stellar, but at least some contribution is coming from him.
The Celtics are in the heat of a tight Eastern Conference race that has them just 3.5 games out of winning an unlikely Atlantic Division title. In other words, the Celtics don’t have any time for Bass to try and redefine his game or experiment with new low- post moves when every game has become crucial in terms of the playoff picture.
The overachieving Bass from the previous season may never return to full form, but the Celtics need his contributions to be as consistent as possible. His match-ups may be tough and he may be undersized, but he’s still a huge part of this team.
Eric St. Cyr Covers The Boston Celtics for Rant Sports. Follow Him on Twitter @ericJsaint
