Brandon Bass and his excellent defense...

[BleedGreen1989]

I continue to be a Brandon Bass apologist when people claim he is some worthless overpaid bum. He flys under the radar and prefers it that way. I'm not against trading Bass at all, but I feel simply giving him away for an expiring would be a mistake.

An interesting article written by Chris Forsberg yesterday (12/1) highlights Brandon Bass and his defensive stats this season. Some may surprise you...

Among Boston's 11 regulars, Bass owns the best defensive rating on the team as the Celtics allow 98.1 points per 100 possessions when he's on the court. That's three points below the team's season average (101.1) and that rating spikes to 105.8 when Bass is off the floor.

Bass also tops the team in points allowed per possession, giving up 0.694 points per play, according to Synergy Sports data. That ranks him in the 90th percentile among all NBA players, but narrow it down to those with at least 150 possessions defended and Bass ranks fifth in the NBA behind only Roy Hibbert, Tiago Splitter, Serge Ibaka and Chris Paul.

Here's the more impressive number: Opponents score against Bass on a mere 32.1 percent of total possessions. Bass is exceptional at limiting his shooting fouls (only 3.6 percent of total possessions defended), which drives his score percentage down. Only Splitter (31.9 percent) has better numbers of those over the 150-possessions threshold. Opponents are shooting just 34.6 percent overall against Bass this season.

[McHales Pits]

Nice statistics...thanks for sharing.

Brandon has been a great individual defender for a few years now. It is nice to see that his defensive play was not solely the result of playing alongside KG.

[JBcat]

I think Bass's play and value has peaked at age 28.   I'm glad he is playing better than say the first half of last year when many of us were dissapointed in him.

[the_Bird]

Nice strawman.  Who actually says that Bass is a "worthless bum?" 

I see plenty of requests than Bass be traded (and have made some myself), but it's not because people don't think he can play.  Rather, it's to free up minutes for KO and Sully (both of whom have the potential, at least, to ultimately be better players that Bass).

Just as important, because Bass *is* a good player, on a reasonable contract, he ought to have a moderate amount of trade value.  I'd expect we'd be able to trade Bass to a contending team for an expiring contract and a late 1st rounder.

[Fafnir]

Nice strawman.  Who actually says that Bass is a "worthless bum?" 

Quite a few people over the past year or so. Game threads are probably the primary venue but there are other posts too. Discussions about him being a backup PF, overpaid, negative trade value, etc. are all fairly common.

If you're a backup level player who is overpaid with negative trade value that's pretty much "worthless overpaid bum" in a reasonable paraphrase.

[Interceptor]

This thread was inevitable. Bass was hard to watch defensively when he first came to BOS, but it's now possible to non-ironically say that he's the anchor of the defense. He's not half a step slow on rotations anymore, and he can guard the best of them. I like Bass a lot, and I like that Ainge stole him from Orlando.

[Snakehead]

Nice strawman.  Who actually says that Bass is a "worthless bum?" 

Quite a few people over the past year or so. Game threads are probably the primary venue but there are other posts too. Discussions about him being a backup PF, overpaid, negative trade value, etc. are all fairly common.

If you're a backup level player who is overpaid with negative trade value that's pretty much "worthless overpaid bum" in a reasonable paraphrase.

So much this.  Like once a page someone seems to say Bass is worthless and a bum.

He was a steal on his deal before this and he is still a great value at his current deal.  Just a productive player.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Never had doubts about Bass as a man defender, I still think he'd put the clamps on any 3! I know why Bass doesn't defend the perimeter much (because there would be no one to guard the 4) but man, this dude could be excellent in time on guys like Melo and Lebron, he's already been solid against them, imagine if he actually prepared and focused on defending those guys. My problem is his help D, now I don't have the numbers, he could be good at it but I just don't see it. It does seem he's been better lately. I still hate the Bass and Sully duo, they are our best big defenders. I just don't see the match. They look better paired with other people. I think Bass is an good starter but we should start Kelly over him (when healthy) b/c this season is about our assets and building another champ team. If I thought Bass was going to win us more games by starting him over KO I would go with Bass but since I think we win/lose regardless, I'd like to see if the KO and Sully duo can be our future. How many times do I need to beg someone to figure out how to make Bass a 3 on d?