Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from 123-108 win over Philadelphia 76ers

Bledsoe is an unsung hero

Amidst all the excitement over Antetokounmpo’s production, Middleton’s hot shooting, and new acquisitions such as Ersan Ilyasova, Brook Lopez and Donte DiVincenzo; Eric Bledsoe has kind of gotten lost in the shuffle. He shouldn’t, though, because Bledsoe has quietly started off the season with his best foot forward.

Bledsoe, who had 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists against Philadelphia, has delivered exactly what the Bucks need from their 28-year-old point guard. This game was arguably his worst, with it being the first he’s shot less than 50 percent from the field (6-of-18) on the season. Still, he had the second-best plus/minus on the team with a +12, behind only Middleton (and better than Antetokounmpo).

On offense, Bledsoe has been playing great unselfish basketball, regularly willing to make the extra pass to set up his teammates and keep the ball moving. He’s also protected the ball well, averaging less than two turnovers to go along with his six assists a game so far in the very young season.

Also, you can just see from watching Bledsoe that he is playing with confidence. He’s playing with swagger. In the second quarter, Bledsoe led a couple of fastbreaks, where on one he dropped an overhead bounce pass to an open Tony Snell for a missed three, and on another he went for a behind-the-back pass, which led to a simple two points in the paint for Snell.

At least a few times a game this season, including against Philadelphia, Bledsoe has been able to get an easy layup off a drive by attacking the big man on a pick-and-roll when they defender is sleeping a little.

Bledsoe’s also shooting the ball from deep, but he’s not falling in love with his jumper like he did at times last season. If he’s left open or if the shot clock is winding down, Bledsoe will shoot it, but if it’s still early in the shot clock he’s shown great patience in swinging the ball around the perimeter and not settling for isolations and mid-range jumpers.

On defense, Bledsoe has done exactly what Budenholzer has asked of him. It was a little different against the 76ers, who use Simmons as the de facto point guard so Giannis or Middleton were matched up on him throughout the night, but Bledsoe has been doing his job against point guards.

Opening night against Kemba Walker obviously looked bad on paper for Bledsoe with his matchup’s 40-point explosion, but when you look at the film, Walker was taking and making a lot of tough jumpers that Bledsoe was forcing him into.

In Budenholzer’s defensive scheme, Bledsoe is often tasked with chasing the point guard off the three-point line, going over the top of a screen and trailing the guard and hopefully baiting him into an inefficient mid-range jumper.

At times it’s meant giving up open shots, but Bledsoe has showed his defensive potential by fighting through screens and even getting a few blocks on shots from behind while trailing the guard.

Bledsoe is the third-wheel behind Giannis and Middleton, but his consistency on both sides of the court are a huge reason for the Bucks’ 4-0 start.

The Bucks next travel to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves on Friday, October 26 at 7pm CT.