C's need no-hesitation Bass

By Greg Payne | ESPNBoston.com

Brandon Bass is struggling with his shot.

Having lost the opening two games of their current three-game road trip, the Celtics have admittedly taken a step back, after a week of promise and suggestions of better habits had everyone thinking the ship was starting to right itself.

Part of the reason why Boston has stumbled so often this season is because it hasn't been able to get consistent performances out of its key role players on a nightly basis. Though the likes of Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and Kevin Garnett have been doing their part more often than not, the support hasn't consistently been behind them.

While Jeff Green, Jason Terry, and Courtney Lee have all drawn criticism at times this season for inconsistent play, Brandon Bass is another player the Celtics simply haven't been getting enough from lately.

In Boston's last two games, especially, Bass failed to make any sort of legitimate impact. In Friday's loss to Houston, he scored just two points on 1-of-3 shooting to go along with four rebounds, and followed that up on Saturday with another two-point effort on 1-of-5 shooting. He hauled in just three rebounds in the loss to San Antonio.

Those very low numbers have cast a more potent glow on the regression of Bass' impact, but, particularly from a scoring standpoint, he's been having difficulty throughout the month of December. After averaging 9.5 points for the month of November, Bass has seen that figure drop to 5.9 points this month. Though he's actually seen an uptake in his overall field goal percentage, a more glaring stat has been his free throw percentage, which stood at an outstanding 90 percent for November, but has since plummeted to 62.5 percent throughout December. In seven games this month, Bass has taken a total of just eight free throws.

The lack of whistles in Saturday's loss to the Spurs has been well-documented, but Bass' inability to get to the line speaks to a lack of aggressiveness on some level, though it might not be as concerning as someone like Pierce posting similar numbers, given Bass' propensity for positioning himself for elbow and other mid-range jump shots more often than not. The more alarming figure might his number of shots per game. While he averaged 8.8 looks at the basket during November, that figure, similar to his points and free throw percentage, has dropped this month, down to just 5.6 per game.

The shooting numbers, overall, suggest Bass playing more timid of late. While there could be multiple reasons for Bass' woes -- a common shooting slump, for example -- what might be more problematic is him joining the Celtics' key support players in not appearing comfortable in Boston's offensive system. It's not necessarily a matter of Bass not filling his role -- his standard rebounding numbers are better this month than they were in November -- but more him not executing it as well as he could be, and has, at other times this season.

On the offensive end, Bass has always been at his best when he's not thinking about shooting and the shots he's taking. Last season, as soon as Bass found himself in his comfort zone, he took the shot. This season, there's been more hesitancy, more uncertainty, and that's become more evident over the last handful of games, even in wins, like last Wednesday's double-overtime victory over the Mavericks.

What's becoming more and more evident as the season goes on, is that key role players like Green and Bass have struggled the most when they haven't been aggressive on their own. Green's recent string of increased production has hinged on him playing to his strengths of attacking the basket, for example. As Bass looks to get his offensive game back on track, he'll have to get back to what has worked for him before as well, and that starts with shedding the hesitancy that has bogged him down in recent games.

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It's impossible to think of a term that describes the Celtics' problems to date better than "aggressiveness." Although the return of Avery Bradley could help defensively, I actually believe he might help even more offensively by continually making his baseline cuts. At least someone will be moving aggressively on offense.

There have been many instances this season in which one Celtic is out there being aggressive (Green on some of his defensive rundown/blocks, Lee on some of his man-to-man coverage, KG on his defensive lunges and recoveries, etc.). But it's been seldom that all five Celtics have been aggressive simultaneously. When it has occurred, we've been treated to some very satisfying Celtics runs.

I do sense that they're running more consistently on offense, although they need to finish a lot better. And I do believe they're swarming better on defense, although it needs to be more consistent. (How often that word pops up.)

But the stagnation of motion in the halfcourt offense is like a nail on a blackboard. I'm hoping three guys will exert their respective influences to motivate the entire team in that area—the coach and/or the point guard and/or the captain.

But I believe this team is still having to do far too much thinking out there, leading to the kind of hesitancy associated with Bass in the article. aggressiveness feeds off instinct much more than off planning. This team is mired in the process of trying to get a feel for "group instinct." Maybe the return of Avery will help some, but it's still likely to be a long process because instincts are usually developed over time, not forced.

Sam

Sam,

I think Bradley will force the other Celtic players to move...add more movement in their offensive rotation. At times it appears that the players come down court offensively and just stand around waiting for someone to do something.

Bradley will rub off on the rest of the team.

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I don't really believe an occasional baseline cut by Avery will be a major motivator for the other players to move more. I think the problem is systemic, and it's really up to the coaches to inject more mobility into the offensive system. Too many of their plays take too long to execute, and this team needs more second- and third-option possessions and fewer last-second hero shots out of a delayed first option. I'd be willing to bet that the Celtics are way down in the rankings in terms of the average number of offensive options they run during a game.

Sam

Sam,

You are right ...but it could not hurt! However Bradley did perk up other guys to play defense last year. Perhaps he will give leadership on the offensive end as well.

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That would be great. We'll see.

The rationale I'm using is that most of the plays they run don't call for a lot of motion—especially since Ray's curls are a thing of Celtics past. If they ran all around the place in executing the current plays, it would be just wasted motion. First they have to select a play calling for motion, then they have to follow through in the motion department. The current offensive strategy doesn't call for a lot of motion; otherwise, you'd be seeing Doc get all over guys for standing around.

In some ways, their offense resembles a hockey man-advantage play in which a point blasts a one-timer and a forward tries to tip it in. The Celts typically run 13-18 seconds off the clock as everyone stands around, then someone suddenly cuts for the hoop or the perimeter, and Rondo tries to thread a pass to him.

To some extent, their success is predicated on the element of surprise. But, the whole thing is self-defeating because the more seconds they run off the clock, the fewer offensive avenues are available to them, and the more easily the opponent can anticipate the available options and exactly when the Celts will make their move. There's no surprise. There's just the default they use so often—jumpers (many of them forced and/or contested).

Sam