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Milwaukee Bucks: Can Eric Bledsoe repeat on All-Defensive Team?

By Jordan Treske

BOSTON, MA - MAY 3: Eric Bledsoe #6 of the Milwaukee Bucks is introduced prior to Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semi Finals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs against the Boston Celtics on May 3, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. 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 License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - MAY 3: Eric Bledsoe #6 of the Milwaukee Bucks is introduced prior to Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semi Finals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs against the Boston Celtics on May 3, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. 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 License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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After experiencing a banner regular season campaign that was capped off by the first All-Defensive honor of his career last year, can Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe repeat that feat next season?

Defense has long been the calling card for veteran Milwaukee Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe.

Dating back to his time with the Los Angeles Clippers backing up soon-to-be Hall of Famer Chris Paul, Bledsoe first made a name for himself as a terrorizing defensive force as he often utilized his freakish athleticism to create viral, highlight-worthy plays, which garnered the ‘Mini-LeBron’ moniker.

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Even as his injury history over time has sapped the former Wildcat of some of that eye-popping athleticism, the combination of Bledsoe’s speed and quickness as well as length and strength have been paired with his strong reading of the game and strong defensive instincts and anticipation.

Of course, Bledsoe has become much more than a stout defender as he has smoothed out and honed his skill set on the offensive side of the ball. But it’s been his standout defending that has differentiated himself from the other top or at minimum, starting caliber point guards around the league.

That all certainly set the stage for the personal defensive renaissance Bledsoe enjoyed throughout the Bucks’ 60-win campaign last season.

Under Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, Bledsoe reclaimed his defensive pedigree standing as an integral link in the Bucks’ defensive scheme by chasing around fellow guards on the perimeter and maneuvering through screens in an effort to flummox opponents, all of which led to the Bucks standing as the best defensive team in the league by season’s end, per NBA.com/stats.

Not only that, but it wound up leading to the 29-year-old being named to last year’s NBA All-Defensive First Team — the highest honor so far in his nine-year career — and he was alongside Bucks teammate and reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in sharing that distinction, as he also took home first team honors.

Now the question that begs to be asked is whether Bledsoe can repeat that feat next season as the Bucks look to improve on the high standard they set for themselves last year.

Considering the criteria of how All-Defensive teams are conducted, that being two guards, two forwards and a center, there’s a little more wiggle room for wings to slot in and overtake true point guard in the eyes of voters.

In fact, the last few examples of natural point guards being named to either All-Defensive team over the last five seasons are the aforementioned Paul, Patrick Beverley, Jrue Holiday, DeJounte Murray and now Bledsoe. Aside from Paul, who has hit his defensive decline at this point in his career, all of Beverley, Holiday and Murray all stand as Bledsoe’s competition next year for top defensive point guard in the league (rising Sacramento Kings star point guard De’Aaron Fox also deserves a shout).

The key standing in Bledsoe’s favor as he looks to retain his spot on the All-Defensive team next season is having the infrastructure in place as well as the pronounced role for his impact to be felt on a regular basis.

No one’s mistaking Bledsoe as the Bucks’ most impactful defender as that falls squarely on Antetokounmpo’s shoulders as he was in the running for Defensive Player of the Year last year as well. But as we saw between Bledsoe as well as veteran big man Brook Lopez, having the room to influence and operate within critical areas of the Bucks’ defensive scheme gave both of them to share in the spotlight, boosting Bledsoe’s All-Defensive case.

What looms over this obviously is health and that luckily hasn’t been a problem for Bledsoe over the last few years and he even made the most appearances (77) last season since he played in 81 games in his second season with the Phoenix Suns back in 2014-15.

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After some doubts over whether we’d see Bledsoe recapture his defensive form from earlier in his career when he arrived to Milwaukee nearly two years ago, he showed last season that he’s capable of tapping back into that level consistently, though with a more mature, experienced approach. Whether he can do it all again next year remains to be seen.

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