Milwaukee Bucks 2018-19 Season Review: Ersan Ilyasova

The worst of Ilyasova

For all of the largely positive play of Ilyasova throughout the season, there were a couple of really low ebbs along the way.

Ilyasova shot just 27.8 percent from the field as he struggled throughout the month of December, balancing a dip in form with a spell on the sidelines for yet another broken nose.

That particular slump was nothing compared to what was set to follow in late January, though. Between January 21 and February 2, Ilyasova failed to score in six consecutive games and was a -19 in the box score during that span.

As other players also discovered over the course of the season, the quickest way to fall out of favor with Mike Budenholzer is to stop making shots. That difficult run for Ilyasova saw his minutes tail off significantly during that spell as he logged single digit minute totals in five of those six games.

Luckily for the Bucks, Ilyasova’s shooting would recover soon after that. A season where he finished at 43.8 percent from the field and 36.3 percent from deep is perfectly acceptable from Ilyasova, but if it wasn’t for notable slumps in December and January, he could have amassed much greater percentages overall.

Elsewhere in the less desirable elements of Ilyasova’s season, for as game and savvy as he is defensively, it’s inevitable that matchups will occasionally dictate that he can’t hold his own with quicker or more athletic opponents. That certainly proved to be the case at times this year.