Milwaukee Bucks: Eric Bledsoe’s attacking prowess remains vital

Coming off his most efficient campaign inside the arc in his second season with the Milwaukee Bucks last year, Eric Bledsoe‘s standout finishing at the basket will be vital for the team to build on their overwhelming success.

As the Milwaukee Bucks underwent a three-point makeover over the course of their 60-win season last year, so did Eric Bledsoe.

Having long been a shaky shooter from long range as a career 33.6 percent three-point shooter, Bledsoe overhauled his shot selection and let it fly more than he ever has throughout his nine-year career.

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The results of that experiment were very mixed as Bledsoe posted quite the discrepancy in hitting triples off the dribble versus on catch-and-shoot situations as my co-site expert Adam McGee explored earlier this offseason.

While Bledsoe’s three-point consistency has and will continue to be the biggest point of emphasis as he enters the latter half of his career, the 29-year-old’s production inside the arc was quite a different story last season.

Milwaukee’s three-point revolution under head coach Mike Budenholzer not only significantly cut down their mid-range looks, but opened up plenty of space in the paint for the likes of superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bledsoe to capitalize on easy looks at the cup.

To say that it came to fruition would be quite the understatement. Per Basketball-Reference.com, the Bucks collectively tallied the highest two-point percentage in the league last year at 56.5 percent. That was thanks to attempting the second-most attempts per game taken within the restricted area behind the Los Angeles Lakers and the Bucks converted 66.2 percent of those looks, according to NBA.com/stats.

Bledsoe obviously played a big part in helping the Bucks achieve those marks as more than half of his total points came within the paint as Bledsoe averaged 8.3 paint points per game last season and he put down 68.4 percent of his 415 attempts taken from the restricted area.

The former Wildcat already proved to be a potent finisher upon coming to Milwaukee the previous year, but the extra space within the paint helped Bledsoe top the mark of 67.4 percent he set for the 2017-18 season (on 322 attempts within the restricted area).

Even as Bledsoe has lost some of the glowing athleticism that made him a high-flying weapon early in his career, the burst he possesses with the ball in his hands when penetrating the paint still stands as a defining asset in his arsenal of skills and attributes. Draw it out even further and Bledsoe was one of the most efficient, high volume threats driving the ball last season as Bledsoe converted 56.3 percent of the 11.1 drives he attempted per game.

Needless to say, the Bucks will need Bledsoe to maintain his high-level efficiency when probing through the heart of opposing defenses and in light of the team losing one of its more dynamic ball handlers in Malcolm Brogdon via free agency this offseason.

We’ve seen the downside of when Bledsoe struggles or loses confidence in being able to convert contested looks with a crowded wall of defenders waiting for him and more than willing to let him  launch looks from outside.

Look no further than Bledsoe’s most recent bout of playoff struggles from last season. It’s important to note that the veteran guard did exceptional in putting down 67.7 percent of the 62 attempts within the restricted area during the postseason, but the problem was that those looks became increasingly harder to come by as the Bucks advanced to the Conference Finals, all of which shone a bigger light on his range shooting inconsistencies (Bledsoe shot 23.3 percent on the 72 attempts he took from deep during the playoffs).

The Bucks have loaded up to give players like Bledsoe even more room to operate inside the arc, considering the veteran shooting threats they picked up this offseason between Kyle Korver and Wesley Matthews, which very well could make the team an even more dangerous three-point shooting team next season.

It’ll be on Bledsoe to continue to flourish in the space that will be open for him to run wild on his way to the hoop, which will be critical in the Bucks’ overall mission to be a top-ranked offense throughout next season.