Milwaukee Bucks: Will Ersan Ilyasova break his own charge record in 2019-20?

After easily leading the league in charges drawn last year, will veteran Milwaukee Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova top his mark in the 2019-20 NBA season?

On any given night, there are some things you can expect out of a Milwaukee Bucks game.

Superstar and reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo gliding down the court, traversing through defenders like traffic cones on the way to throwing down a thunderous dunk? Check. Seven-foot Brook Lopez splashing away from long range? You got it. The occasional perplexed facial expression from head coach Mike Budenholzer? Yep.

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And if all goes well and he has his way with that night’s officiating crew, Ersan Ilyasova will slide into the paint, get set, and absorb the impact from an opposing player within the paint, all in the name of drawing a charge.

The patron saint of drawing charges, Ilyasova has honed his charge drawing skills dating back to his second Bucks stint earlier this decade, and the legend, and his charge totals, had only grown across his various stops elsewhere before he returned to Milwaukee last season.

Last year, the 32-year-old kicked that up to another level as he logged a league-leading 50 drawn charges throughout the Bucks’ 60-win regular season, per NBA.com/stats.

Ilyasova managed to tack on six drawn charges throughout Milwaukee’s playoff run, which paled in comparison to the likes of Damian Lillard, Draymond Green and eventual NBA champion, Kyle Lowry (Lowry managed to draw 16 charges during the playoffs last year).

When you combine the minutes Ilyasova logged throughout the regular season (1,231) and the postseason (272), the Turkish international drew a charge every 26.8 minutes he saw the floor last season.

Of course, Ilyasova’s inclination to put his body on the line doesn’t solely revolve around his ability to draw charges as he’s drawn 349 total offensive fouls from opponents over his 11-year NBA career, per Basketball-Reference.com (add in 18 drawn offensive fouls from Ilyasova’s career playoff showings.

All of it is a testament to Ilyasova’ strong defensive positioning and basketball IQ which has stood the test of time while his limited athleticism has gradually dissipated. And the collateral damage, such as broken noses as well as various knocks and ailments, have piled up as his NBA career has wore on.

For some detractors who have and will continue to deride Ilyasova’s charge drawing ploys, or any regular charge drawers for that matter, as a cheap tactic to make up for his diminishing foot speed and overall mobility, they’re missing the larger point of the methods behind Ilyasova’s charge-drawing madness.

In fact, there’s certainly a science behind Ilyasova’s defensive anticipation and specifically, his ability to learn how to withstand the brunt of drawing charges as he talked about with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Lori Nickel back in late April during the Bucks’ playoff run:

"“You kind of learn how to land,” said Ilyasova. “So it doesn’t really affect me when I hit the floor. It’s more like during the contact and stuff, you get hit in your chest and stuff. You just learn how to get over quicker and fall before they hit you.“It’s basically like when an airplane is landing. You just kind of go a little bit,” he said, making a gliding gesture with his arm.”"

While Ilyasova’s success rate drawing charges is relatively high and is the headlining asset behind his defensive services, it shouldn’t reduce the impact of his presence on that side of the floor. Per NBA.com/stats, the Bucks surrendered 101.5 points per 100 possessions with Ilyasova on the floor last season and that mark jumped to 104.4 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.

Now, it’ll be curious to see whether the events and the dealings the Bucks made throughout their offseason will not only affect Ilyasova’s playing time, but indirectly, his ability to rack up charges.

With his frontcourt versatility and ability to play with any of the Bucks’ rangy forwards and traditional centers like the Lopez brothers, that might not threaten the potential for Ilyasova to go and top his mark from last season, which obviously came under limited minutes and in 82 appearances, both regular season and playoffs combined.

The answer to that will have to remain for another day and surely, the prospect of Ilyasova being able to be as effective as he was throughout his second Milwaukee homecoming last season will be the bigger question over time.

But for as long Ilyasova is lacing up his shoes and playing professional basketball, whether in Milwaukee, elsewhere, or internationally, he’ll actively look to draw charges and get under the skin of his opponents.