Cool Bass Article from Slam Mag

[Eman]

Catch A Rising Star

Get familiar with Dallas forward Brandon Bass.

By Aggrey Sam

“I would definitely play for free,” says Brandon Bass. “Why not? I work on my game for free.”

It’s no surprise the fourth-year player has that mentality. A second-round pick by the Hornets after going pro as an LSU sophomore back in 2005, Bass received scant playing time in his two-year stint in Oklahoma City. But after a breakout season that saw him average 8.3 ppg and 4.4 rpg in under 20 minutes a night—numbers that rose to 11.6 and 6.8 in the playoffs, playing pro bono won’t be an option.

“I never really had the opportunity to play until this year,” he says. “I feel like I kinda lost a step with the Hornets. It put me in a place where I wasn’t doing anything.”

Despite the lack of tick, Bass continued to hone his game and bided his time until he was picked up by the Mavs as a free agent last summer.

“From Day 1, Coach (Johnson) believed in me,” says Bass. When I was with the Hornets, we played Dallas and even though it was garbage time, I played hard. He came over to me after the game and told me he liked how hard I played and that it would pay off.”

“So when I came to Dallas, he already knew how hard I worked,” he continues. “But he didn’t know what I could do.”

What Bass can do is a variety of things. A chiseled, 6-8, 240-pound power forward, the Baton Rouge native (I caught up with him in his home state, as he met me at a kids’ rec-league game in New Orleans) is a banger, a live body in the paint who isn’t afraid to get physical or use his athleticism to block shots or throw down on the opposition. What makes him effective, however, is his versatility. Able to take slow-footed big men off the dribble, run the floor in transition and hit open 15-footers, Bass forced teams to game plan for him, as his consistent and efficient performances became more of a regular occurrence and less of a surprise.

Being in New Orleans, I witnessed Dallas’ first-round playoff demise to the Hornets firsthand. While there wasn’t a lot of positives in that series from a Mavs’ perspective, the one thing I think Dallas (where I happen to be right now; more on that soon) fans can take heart in is that the veteran squad has a young player who is a future force to be reckoned with.

At times, he even looked like the team’s go-to guy, as departed coach Avery Johnson called isos for him in crucial moments like he was a seasoned vet, instead of a guy who should have been an NBA rookie (both literally and figuratively–last year would have been his first year out of college if he played out his eligibility at LSU; it was also his first season receiving any consistent burn).

Now, with Johnson gone and another disappointing postseason exit diminishing expectations in Dallas, Bass is now an integral part of keeping the Mavericks relevant in the ever-competitive Western Conference under new head coach Rick Carlisle.

“I think Dallas needs to be that way [a sleeper]. This same team went to the Finals, and that was without me or Kidd,” he says. “Coach Carlisle is known for having physical teams and I’ve been playing physical my whole life. I’ve been putting a lot of work in this summer, working on my knowledge of the game, watching a lot of film.”

“Look at our roster,” Bass continues. “We have three or four players capable of being All-Stars.”

“Two (Dirk and Kidd) have been All-Stars for years, Josh was an All-Star and…,” he pauses. “Then, we have a rising star.”







How are we going to keep this guy???????
If we can keep adding young players like this, our window will keep growing

[Underdog]

Props to Brandon Bass' mom for raising him right!


I REALLY like this guy's attitude (pay attention Josh, you could learn something...)

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Nice stuff from the ANIMAL...

[SMC0007]

OH BURN!..

[DubOverdose]

Ya, about Kidd being an All Star. I doubt he will be one again.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Glad someone is working hard this summer....

wa wa waaaaa

[Kidd Karma]

nice read. hopefully if we don't trade him, he takes a fair offer from the Mavs.

[destroy ALL]

MAVS: DONT TRADE BASS.

[mac222b]

Well if we re-sign him I hope it's cuz he's worked hard at playing the 3 this offseason. That's an awfully laterally slow lineup though. Kidd, Jho, Bass, Dirk, Diop. Yikes

[SMC0007]

Bass could move quicker than a lot of 3's in the league..

[thewillis12]

yea but realize we have kobe, tmac, even barbosa, raja, and maggate who play the 3 position in our conference alone. i dont think bass will be able to play the three.....

if only he were 3 inches taller......awesome center he would be =D

[Kidd Karma]

We'd be hard pressed to squeeze 20 minutes a night out of him, given Dirk, the 2 headed center monster in Diop and Damp.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by thewillis12

yea but realize we have kobe, tmac, even barbosa, raja, and maggate who play the 3 position in our conference alone. i dont think bass will be able to play the three.....

if only he were 3 inches taller......awesome center he would be =D

Yeah 3 inches taller would be nice...


But Barbosa, raja don't play 3 if they do they are constantly abused by Bass!!! There are benefits of having a bigger 3..

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by thewillis12

yea but realize we have kobe, tmac, even barbosa, raja, and maggate who play the 3 position in our conference alone. i dont think bass will be able to play the three.....

Not one of the people you mentioned plays the 3. Not even one.

[SMC0007]

LOL! Well i have seen tmac and Kobe at times and Maggette too , but the other two...

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I can't imagine management agreeing with this enthusiasm about Bass since they almost traded him.

On the bright side, hopefully Bass can give Dirk some more rest this season.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I can't imagine management agreeing with this enthusiasm about Bass since they almost traded him.

On the bright side, hopefully Bass can give Dirk some more rest this season.

Almost? When???

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Almost? When???

Bass/Stack for Artest was confirmed offered right?

[BGMaverick9]

Yes it was. I still can't buy into the experiment-hype of Bass as a 3.

[Dirkenstien]

If Bass can play the 3 with J-ho shifting to the 2 and play like his former self then this off-season may actually have not been that bad.


But if Bass can't play the 3 this off-season has really sucked.

[SMC0007]

Well, as much as I like Bass getting some SF mins I'm not counting on it. IF he does regardless of the outcome, it's a positive that Carlisle is being creative and trying to get the most out of what he has to work with.

With that said as of now regardless of anything, this HAS been a sucky offseason!

[Underdog]

Which is poorer defense:


Diop/Dirk/Josh/Terry/Kidd

or

Diop/Dirk/Bass/Josh/Kidd

[SMC0007]

Depends on who were playing..

the first is slightly worse imo because of Terry's size

Certian guys ex LEBRON KOBE...no one is stopping so why not force them to play D against someone like BASS who has great potential to JAM and bully with size and draw fouls.

[seagullstalker35]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

Not one of the people you mentioned plays the 3. Not even one.

uh yeah man, actually they do. not full time mind you, but they saw time at the 3 on a pretty regular basis, with the exception of barbosa. the lakers love to play fisher and vujacic in the backcourt with bryant at the 3. ive seen tmac play the 3 on several occasions. the suns like to trot out nash, barbosa, and bell together which puts bell at SF. and maggette is a full time small forward, thats basically the only position he plays.

[bcrav4]

My favorite part of the article is about Bass playing physical. If we can get him to work a little harder on perimter D, then we might be making some noise next season.


PS - some of ya'll are making him sound like a poor man's version of Ron Artest (only slower, stronger, and the potential for average defense).

[horse900703]

Good Article!

[mqywaaah]

Originally Posted by destroy ALL

MAVS: DONT TRADE BASS.

I agree