Milwaukee Bucks: Eric Bledsoe’s disruptive defense remains key
By Adam McGee
Even with a more conservative defensive scheme for the team, Eric Bledsoe’s disruptive brand of defense remains key for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Another disappointing playoff stretch made for a far from ideal conclusion to Eric Bledsoe‘s season, but there were still plenty of positives for him to reflect on over the course of what was likely the best year of his career to date.
By no means was it a career year in terms of numbers, as Bledsoe has averaged more points and assists in the past, but rarely, if ever, has he demonstrated as positive an all-around impact on a team’s success.
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That was best typified by the fact Bledsoe’s season was ultimately marked with the most notable accolade of his career to date, as not only did the 29-year-old make an All-Defensive team for the very first time, but he cracked the First Team in doing so.
The Bucks’ league-best defense functioned as a well-oiled machine throughout the year, in stark contrast to its appearance in previous seasons. A major overhaul under the guidance of Mike Budenholzer led to a much more conservative core defensive scheme, centered mostly on dropping while defending the pick-and-roll.
This strategy allowed Brook Lopez to anchor Milwaukee’s defense, and for ball-handlers to be funnelled into a no man’s land where Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo could protect the rim and force tough mid-range attempts. Beyond that, though, it also dictated a much more disciplined shape to the Bucks’ defense, creating less room for the kind of aggressiveness that become a core tenet of their defense for Jason Kidd.
There’s no question that made for a colossal net gain for the Bucks, as evidenced in their record and defensive performance last season, but it is also important that some element of dynamic, game-changing defense remains in their arsenal.
In that regard, Bledsoe remains something resembling the team’s nominated wildcard. Tasked with guarding opposing point guards, Bledsoe can bring his particular brand of disruptive defense to the point of attack and apply a kind of pressure that could otherwise be lacking from Milwaukee’s approach.
Along with Antetokounmpo, Bledsoe possesses the ability to be a defensive playmaker, and based on the well-documented adjustment he made to successfully guard James Harden last season, it’s safe to say he also has the freedom to make those adjustments.
Part of that decision-making process comes in deciding when to gamble for steals. Having ranked third in the NBA in steals per game in his first season with the Bucks, Bledsoe’s tallies in that department dropped from 2.0 to 1.5 last season, although that still left him a very respectable 21st in the NBA.
Even more important in that particular recipe is the fact that Bledsoe is incredibly disciplined and restrained when it comes to fouls. Last season, Bledsoe averaged just two fouls per game, his lowest tally since his time with the L.A. Clippers.
This combines to make Bledsoe a key cog in Milwaukee’s defense, although one that doesn’t generally seem to get the same attention for his contributions on that end as Antetokounmpo and Lopez do.
As the Bucks became a measured and cerebral defensive juggernaut, the value of a player capable of breaking beyond that pattern to hound opponents and put them off their games, all while knowing when exactly to pick his moment to attack has only grown.
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The Bucks are lucky enough to have a couple of defensive game-changers to round out their defensive play, and Bledsoe is undoubtedly one of them.