Ersan Ilyasova
Ersan Ilyasova’s slide out of the Bucks’ rotation has already been going on well before their playoff run begins next month.
Since the arrival of veteran forward Marvin Williams at the beginning of February, Ilyasova has fallen out of favor under head coach Mike Budenholzer as he’s logged intermittent DNP-CDs, and is getting run with the clean up crew with results well in hand for either the Bucks or the opposition.
When the Turkish veteran has assumed his spot off the bench or recently filled in for the injured Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ilyasova has struggled to make any meaningful contributions or offer up the hot shooting and production he delivered at the start of the 2019-20 season.
The 33-year-old’s game can certainly run hot and cold as being in rhythm is key to the good run of form he’s historically delivered throughout his 12-year NBA career. Since his demotion, it’s clear that Ilyasova’s play has been neutered, regardless of its his own doing or not.
Perhaps the Bucks’ front office was getting ahead of any matchup problem or limitation that would have been exposed with Ilyasova backing up superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo as he had done for the majority of his third stint in Milwaukee. And now, we’re left to wonder if Ilyasova’s poor run can be salvageable, provided he does get some minutes in what’s left of the regular season.