With memories of last year’s struggles still lingering, Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe will be eager to set the record straight against the Boston Celtics.
Nobody has forgotten what happened the last time the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics met in the playoffs. Least of all Eric Bledsoe.
A hotly contested seven-game series was ultimately decided by the finest of margins, and having once felt very much up for grabs for Milwaukee, finished with the Celtics advancing to the second round.
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Even with the Celtics depleted by the absences of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, the expectation wasn’t for Terry Rozier to steal the show. Al Horford or Jayson Tatum, maybe, but not the precocious and volatile scoring guard.
Yet that’s exactly what happened. Scary Terry was born, clothing lines and all. Drew Bledsoe undoubtedly welcomed a bizarre re-emergence into the psyche of Boston sports fans through no action of his own. And the city of Boston laughed, had fun, and celebrated, largely at Eric Bledsoe’s expense.
Bledsoe was uncharacteristically shown up defensively, often in crucial moments, and was a passive and largely disinterested figure on the offensive end. Khris Middleton produced the best basketball of his career, Giannis Antetokounmpo was his usual brilliant self, but the borderline All-Star the Bucks had acquired to push them over the edge was essentially nowhere to be seen.
A lack of self awareness may have led Bledsoe to that situation — one that likely could have been avoided with an acknowledgement of him knowing who Terry Rozier was right from the start — but the experience seems to have acted as learning moment for the 29-year-old, at least if he’s to be taken at his word.
"“It was my fault we lost the Boston series. It’s a good thing to feel like that sometimes. You want to be hungry and prove everybody wrong.”"
That’s what Bledsoe told ESPN’s Malika Andrews back in January, in a moment that showed the kind of maturity that may have just ever so briefly abandoned him, and proved costly, in last year’s playoffs.
Of course, Bledsoe’s perception of the playoffs then was very different to what it is now. Coming to the Bucks, it had been five years since Bledsoe had made the playoffs as a backup with the Clippers. Much like many of his teammates, his understanding of what it takes in the postseason was still developing, and it was his first time tasked with being a team’s primary floor general in that setting.
Bledsoe’s playoff no-show didn’t completely erase a strong first season with his new team, but undoubtedly detracted from a lot of the good faith he had built up among Milwaukee’s fans. In part, Bledsoe contributed to his lackluster play with complacency.
"“I had a great season last year, but it was just one bad series. And everybody noticed. I thought it was going to be easy because we were playing so well at the end of the season. It was about respecting your opponents, too, because I wasn’t prepared going in.”"
As a team, that hasn’t been something the Bucks could be accused of this season. Under Mike Budenholzer’s watch, the Bucks, and Bledsoe specifically, have been ready and focused since Game 1 of the preseason. They avoided any major lapses of focus en route to an outstanding 60-win regular season, and they even avoided falling foul to complacency in an incredibly one-sided first round sweep over the Pistons.
The Bucks have been the NBA’s best team all season long. Part of living up to that mantle comes in believing you’re befitting of that status, but also in knowing what it takes to maintain it. So far, there’s been no indication of Milwaukee letting either their confidence or their preparation slip.
And so, we arrive at a second round series where Bledsoe gets a chance to script his own tale of redemption. After a season where he played the best basketball of his career, only the Celtics, and Rozier among them, stand between him and a spot in the Conference Finals.
Anyone who has watched Bledsoe play recently, or even more tellingly watched him give an interview or a press conference, will almost certainly have noticed the smile he just can’t seem to contain.
With his game in good order, a new deal secured with a team that clearly values his services, and the chance for real success on the horizon, from the outside, there seems to be a contentedness about Bledsoe that he hadn’t fully achieved at this time 12 months ago.
It’s spilled into his game, and when placed side by side, the difference between his first round performance from last year to this year is almost comical.
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In a season that will likely be crowned with All-Defensive Team honors on an individual level, all indications suggest this year’s Bledsoe should be treated as a completely different player to the one he was 12 months ago.
The Alabama native couldn’t have done anything more to leave that impression in the time since last year’s humiliation, and now all that remains is for him to take the final step in his journey to redemption.
The first part was saying all of the right things, and he’s passed that test with flying colors this year. Now, the final step calls for action.
As the Bucks prepare for their most important series in almost two decades, Bledsoe is set to face up to the most important series of his career to date. At a minimum, this time it feels as if he’s ready for the challenge.