The best of Ilyasova
This isn’t going to surprise anyone, but the best of Ersan Ilyasova was undoubtedly his charge taking across the course of the season.
Of course, Ilyasova’s ability to anticipate contact and position himself is not news, and has been a staple of his game for many years, but even by those standards this year was a little different.
Ilyasova amassed a record breaking charge haul, totting up a tally of 50 in the regular season, making him the clear cut NBA leader in that category. For context, Blake Griffin was second with 31 charges, and he played just over 1,400 minutes more than Ilyasova in doing so too.
Ilyasova’s charge taking was just one element of an excellent defensive season on the whole. Of Bucks who played over 40 regular season games, only George Hill managed to boast a better defensive rating than Ilyasova.
With Ilyasova on the floor in the regular season, the Bucks allowed just 100.4 points per 100 possessions. In the playoffs, that number improved to 97.6, while the Bucks also outscored opponents by a team-best 14.4 points per 100 possessions during the postseason.
Ilyasova’s limitations as a defender are well-documented, but his intelligent play and positioning allow him to still round out as a plus on that side of the floor.
Another key element of Ilyasova’s contributions was his activity on the glass. The Turk’s trademark tip-ins helped him to lead the Bucks in offensive rebounding percentage in both the regular season and playoffs.