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Milwaukee Bucks: How Ersan Ilyasova got his groove back

By Jordan Treske

SACRAMENTO, CA - FEBRUARY 27: Ersan Ilyasova #77 of the Milwaukee Bucks gets introduced into the starting lineup against the Sacramento Kings on February 27, 2019 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - FEBRUARY 27: Ersan Ilyasova #77 of the Milwaukee Bucks gets introduced into the starting lineup against the Sacramento Kings on February 27, 2019 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Veteran Milwaukee Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova has fully shaken out of his post-injury malaise, returning to form as an essential piece of the team’s bench.

After flying high throughout the season and especially in this calendar year, the post-All-Star break portion of the Milwaukee Bucks’ schedule has seen them experience a slip up or two.

Although it hasn’t threatened their grasp of holding the best record in all of the NBA, the Bucks falling in back-to-back games, as well as in three straight road contests, recently has given them a little taste of adversity in a season where there’s hardly been any for them, thankfully.

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Of course, the Bucks are about to hit the five-month mark in their schedule and integrating new additions as well as weathering the storm with lingering injuries and facing a heavy road slate have all made for an interesting mixture of elements they have to work through at the moment.

On the other hand, the Bucks have had the benefit of rotation players rounding back into form after fighting through slumps, the biggest example being veteran forward Ersan Ilyasova.

It all started when a broken nose forced the 11-year NBA veteran to miss eight consecutive games at the end of December and into the new year. While Ilyasova initially made up for lost time upon returning at the beginning of January, a hellish stretch near the end of January and into the start of February saw him struggle to buy a bucket over six straight contests and relegate his role within head coach Mike Budenholzer’s rotation.

But Budenholzer’s insistence on sticking with Ilyasova through his downswing has paid off as the 31-year-old has rounded back into form as a productive cog on the Bucks’ bench.

Case in point, Ilyasova has averaged 8.0 points per game on shooting splits of .480/.425/.840 and 4.5 rebounds in 18 minutes per game since the beginning of February. Extrapolated over per 36 minutes and llyasova is averaging 16 points and 8.9 rebounds, including 4.4 offensive boards, over that span.

Rediscovering his shooting stroke, as well as being positionally sound on the defensive end and on the glass, has only led to good things for the Bucks in the minutes Ilyasova is on the floor. Since the Bucks picked up play following the All-Star break, Ilyasova holds the highest net rating of all players on the roster at +18.3 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com/stats.

Although the Bucks have gotten reinforcements in Nikola Mirotic and Pau Gasol in Ilyasova’s area on the team’s depth chart, the Turkish international’s resurgence isn’t an insignificant development with the playoffs less than a month away.

We’ve seen Budenholzer’s proclivity to run super sized lineups throughout the season and that’s been amped up to another level, considering he rolled out a starting lineup that featured superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ilyasova, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton and Mirotic in the Bucks’ recent road meeting with the Utah Jazz (small sample size, but that five-man lineup has a net rating of +114.3 points per 100 possessions in 11 minutes).

That certainly lies on the extreme end of the size and skilled shooting the Bucks can roll out, but Ilyasova has kept his name in the discussion of specialty lineups they can throw out to keep their opponents guessing on a given night or for a crucial stretch.

The cost to Ilyasova’s bounce back, as well as Mirotic’s arrival, and Gasol’s to a lesser extent, has been that second-year forward D.J. Wilson‘s breakout season has been put on the backburner, much to the dismay of Bucks fans’ wishes.

Ilyasova will always stand as a far less sexier option than Mirotic and Wilson, and as Budenholzer said as much during his pregame media availability before the Bucks’ series finale with the Charlotte Hornets last weekend, someone will always be the odd man out on a team sporting great depth like the Bucks currently have.

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But as long as he combats his athletic limitations by hitting threes, working the glass with volleyball-like rebounds and sacrificing his body in the name of being the patron saint of drawing charges, Ilyasova’s certain set of skills will make him a mainstay in the Bucks’ rotation come playoff time.

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