Without some sort of portal into his head ala Being John Malkovich, we’ll never know truly how much one thing or the next impacts the performance of Ersan Ilyasova. It’s easy to speculate on his mental state, on his confidence. We can’t say for sure though.

But it’s easy to see how the performance of Ilyasova impacts the Bucks. Last season in wins, Ilyasova shot 49.5% and averaged 10.7 points per game. In Bucks losses last season, Ilyasova shot 39.8% and averaged 8.7 points per game. In our limited sample size of data this season, we’ve once again seen his performance mean a great deal. In Milwaukee’s loss to the Bobcats, Ilyasova scored just two points (though he did grab nine rebounds). When the Bucks rolled over the Wizards, Ilyasova played a key role, dropping 16 points on just eight shots.

Obviously, this isn’t rocket science. He’s a starter for the Bucks. He regularly plays lots of minutes. If he’s playing well, it’s going to make a big difference. But what’s unusual about Ilyasova is how much of a variable he can be. We know that even when Andrew Bogut shoots under 40%, he’ll be playing all-NBA type defense. We know Brandon Jennings might shoot a low percentage, but he applies pressure on the opposing point guards and usually is able to give the other team some problems with his driving.

But Ilyasova’s play, especially his play early, gives hints about his state each game.

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John Hammond announced Tuesday that the Milwaukee Bucks will pick up the third year, $3.5 million option on Carlos Delfino.

In his second year as a Buck, the small forward averaged a career high 11.5 points on 39% shooting from the field and 37% shooting from three.  Delfino led the Bucks in three-point field goals with 105 despite missing 33 games due to a concussion and symptoms he couldn’t seem to shake.

Seen as a reliable defender and a good fit in an offense that struggled throughout last season, Coach Scott Skiles confidence in Delfino was obvious throughout the second half of last season.  As Milwaukee made their final playoff push in late March, Delfino was regularly seeing better than 40 minutes a night while high priced off-season acquisition Corey Maggette logged DNP-CDs.  To his credit, Delfino responded to the minutes, twice scoring 30 points while averaging better than 19 points during a seven game stretch that ended the month of March.

As it stands, Delfino would seem to have the inside track on the starting small forward position once again, given his shooting touch, apparent grasp on where to be in Milwaukee’s offense and competitiveness defensively.  While not the quickest player on the roster, Delfino positions himself well defensively and has the size and strength to match up with most wings in the league.  His athleticism doesn’t leap out if you casually watch him, but at times he’s shown he’s capable of some impressive blocks and dunks.

Given the disaster that was last season, a possible off-season roster shake up that could result of it and Maggette’s uncertain fit in the Bucks future, Delfino’s familiarity with Coach Skiles and General Manager Hammond could remain one of his biggest assets this coming season.

Jeremy Schmidt writes the Milwaukee Bucks blog Bucksketball.com. Follow him on Twitter. Become a fan on Facebook (right sidebar).

Part two, The Negatives, of Josh Hilgendorf’s Bucksketball debut breaking down Bucks forwards this past season.

Now that I am done squinting my eyes trying to find something positive about the Bucks forward play this season, I can relax a little bit and let the players do most of the work for me. This is possible because to be frank, the forward play from the team in the 10-11 season was despicable.

John Hammond looked at the 09-10 team, saw they needed to get to the line more and could use a true power forward, and went out and got Corey Maggette and Drew Gooden. On paper, those were perfect moves. But, as the cliché goes, NBA games aren’t played on paper. Let’s take a look at everything the forwards did wrong last year.

• The chemistry killer

One of the main reasons the Bucks made it to the playoffs in 2010 was the team’s chemistry. Everybody seemed to like each other, or at least could play well together. Veterans like Kurt Thomas and Jerry Stackhouse brought wisdom from many years in the League. Players bought into what Scott Skiles was trying to do and played with fire.

So what happened this year?

Thomas and Stackhouse were gone, that certainly played a role. But an even bigger chemistry killer arrived from the west coast. The man with the guns for arms and face like Xzibit arrived in a summer trade and was able to whittle away at any good feelings the Bucks may have had by January.

Maggette was brought to the Bucks for his scoring prowess and ability to get to the free throw line. Even if you just look at the numbers and don’t consider chemistry, Maggette’s addition was a failure. A team that finished last in free throws made in the 09-10 season made a measly move to 27th. Maggette failed to do what he usually did best. He made 460 of 551 free throws his last season in Golden State. While his percentage remained almost the same in Milwaukee, his attempts and makes plummeted. He converted only 271 of 325 attempts form the charity stripe.

Look closer and you will see the culprit. Maggette played 10 less minutes per game this season compared to last. And why did he not get on the court as much? He never truly grasped what Skiles was trying to do and could not gel with the rest of his Bucks teammates. While stories leaked out throughout the season about the toxic atmosphere found in the locker room, you only had to look at Maggette’s on court demeanor to understand what was going on. Whether it was lowering his shoulder to barrel through a defender instead of passing to a wide-open teammate or appearing aloof during crunch time, it seems clear that Maggette’s heart never arrived in Milwaukee with the rest of his body. Read more…

Yesterday, there were two.  Today, there are three.  Meet the second of Bucksketball.com’s new contributors, Josh Hilgendorf.  Josh has been spreading the gospel of Bucks in Madison since the team’s distant memory of a sprint to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001.  He writes constantly and will now be doing so more about the Bucks than he has ever before here at Bucksketball.

- Jeremy Schmidt

It is hard to find many positives on a team that failed to meet almost a single person’s expectations in the 2010-11 season. It is even harder to find positives among a group of forwards that were constantly missing games due to injury. Even if healthy, there was not a lot of consistency to be found here.

For every great Luc Mbah a Moute stop, we had to watch Drew Gooden’s clueless attempt to rotate on defense. For every Carlos Delfino 3-pointer, we were forced to witness Corey Maggette’s head down, “I’m not going to pass the ball even if my life depended on it,” one-man wrecking crew attempt at getting to the rim.

However, no matter how bad a team is, if you look hard enough, you are bound to find something to get excited about.

• Luc Mbah a Moute’s defense

Bucks fans have known since Moute’s rookie season that he could man up on the League’s premier offensive players. From the beginning he was guarding players of all shapes and sizes. Whether it was Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce or LeBron James, Moute secured playing time that first season because of his effort, and often success, on defense.

After bursting on the scene as a second round surprise, it seems like Moute got lost in the shuffle this season. However, those paying the closest attention saw him still guarding the team’s best player, whether that be a small forward, power forward or even center on occasion.

Read more…

Goin’ alphabetical this season.  First half today, second half tomorrow.  Enjoy.

Earl Barron

Once finished a play
Coming out of timeout. Sad.
Clear role, in swamp O.

He was only in Milwaukee briefly, playing in seven March games, but he did well what he does.  He crashed the offensive glass and made mid-range jumpers.  He made seven of 16 shots from 16-23 feet and half of his 14 attempts at the rim.  On the Bucks, those qualified as stunning offensive numbers.  And it was a small sample size, but his 16% offensive rebound rate led the team.

Andrew Bogut

Kept on keeping on,
Through sickness and injury.
Offensive struggles.

So that was the season after the injury.  He struggled through the first few months, wore a bulky elbow pad and had us looking away as he missed free throw after free throw.  But he kept trotting out there every night, anchoring a terrific defense and occasionally contributing something offensively.  Next season will be an important one for Bogut.  It’s probably going to be the season where we all find out if he’s ever going to be an All-Star or not.  He’s had another surgery, it’s supposedly gone well and he should have most of the summer to work on his game.  Hopefully we’ll be able to tell in November.

Earl Boykins

Scores like a rabbit
Couldn’t be reliable.
Could be electric.

He won the Laker game.  And he did the same against the Kings.  And he did it a few more times, because that’s kind of what Earl Boykins does.  That’s why Boykins is such a quality third point guard.  He doesn’t need to play every night and won’t make much of a stink if he doesn’t.  But when he’s called on, Earl is ready.  That’s commendable.  On more than one occasion, Scott Skiles referred to Boykins as the best shooter on the team.  Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible for him to get his shot off without a little bit of trickery or ball-handling involved.  And therein lies the reason Boykins is what he is: fun.
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