http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/108676635254780.xml Bass, Lloreda on display for NBA Former LSU players working out at Pre-Draft Camp Wednesday, June 09, 2004 By Benjamin Hochman Staff writer CHICAGO -- Braces? "Yes sir, no sir?" This guy really is a kid. LSU's Brandon Bass is here at the NBA Pre-Draft Camp, hoping to hide his blatant youth -- at 19 he's the third-youngest player here -- by playing at a level that makes him a worthwhile gamble for a professional basketball team. In the next three days, Bass will play in numerous games against other draft hopefuls, desperately trying to catch the eye of an NBA onlooker. The sophomore-to-be has not signed with an agent and can decide to return to LSU by June 17. He believes he'll know by Friday. "Right now, I'm hovering (between the first and second round)," Bass said. "I think I should know after this camp here. . . . If I'm in the first round, top 20, top 25, I'm going to stay in the draft. Second round, I'm coming back. Definitely." Former LSU teammate Jaime Lloreda has no such luxury. There is no testing the waters for him. It's a cannonball into the deep end. "You've got to be excited out there -- something you've been waiting for is right there," said Lloreda, who completed his eligibility. "This is my last shot." Both Tigers will have to prove they're first-round talents. Lloreda, 6 feet 9, was an aggressive forward during his two seasons in Baton Rouge. But players at draft camp might be even more aggressive -- as Lloreda found while being bounced around in Tuesday night's drills -- and the lottery picks aren't even in attendance. Furthermore, his foot hurts. LSU faithful remember "that foot," the one that prematurely ended his senior season and led to his leaving the team, all during the Tigers' tailspin toward the end of the SEC season. While he has been rehabilitating it, the injury -- plantar fasciitis in his left foot, which stretches fro his heel to the ball -- lingers. On a scale of 1 percent to 100 percent, 100 being healthy, "Before tonight's practice? 85 percent," Lloreda said. "After? 50. I can't hold back, though." Lloreda also addressed the murkiness of his decision to leave the team after 22 games to rehabilitate his foot, despite being medically cleared to play by team doctors. "When you leave the team in your last year, you're leaving before (celebrating) senior night -- you got to look both ways," he said. "I was really hurt. People think I don't like Coach (John) Brady, I don't like the team, that's not like that. I just was hurt. And, I'm still hurt. It was the best choice I could make." Whether NBA teams look at his selfishness as a factor in evaluation, one veteran NBA scout said, "You go by how they are when they are with you. A lot of the time it's between a player and a certain coach. Sometimes, that stuff can be overblown." Bass was a highly touted forward out of Baton Rouge and was chosen SEC Freshman of the Year, finishing second for the Tigers with 12.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game (Lloreda was first with 16.9 and 11.6). Bass insists that since the Tigers' final game March 17, his game has improved vastly thanks to workouts. "I want to prove to them that," Bass said of NBA scouts. "I can shoot the 15-, 17-footer, and my handles have gotten better. I'm just growing every day." "You're under a microscope here where everything is watched by someone, so you have to be really tuned in to your effort," Chicago Bulls general manager John Paxson said. "But he's a young talent. More schooling will help him, but he's a talented kid. "I think a kid like that can only benefit from coming here. I mean, what does he have to lose? He can help himself by playing well. I don't think there's much of a downside. He can always go back to school." If so, then why the rush? "It's not really a rush," Bass said. "I just think I can play in the NBA now, with just some more work. . . . It's been a dream for me since I was coming up." . . . . . . . Benjamin Hochman can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3405. --

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