Ersan Ilyasova

StaTuesday: Nobody draws charges quite like Bucks' Ersan Ilyasova

Published Feb. 5, 2019 4:07 p.m. ET

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Ersan Ilyasova's return to Wisconsin hasn't gone quite as planned.

The 31-year-old forward, who began his career with Milwaukee until being traded in June 2015, signed a three-year deal with the Bucks this offseason. However, he hasn't started since Jan. 11, and is averaging 11.3 minutes over his last 10 games while wearing a mask to protect his injured nose.



In his past seven games, Ilyasova has scored a combined four points -- and all of those came at Brooklyn on Monday night.

But basketball isn't just about scoring points. There are other aspects to the game, rebounding, passing, hustle, etc. And one thing Ilyasova can still do better than anyone is draw a charge.

The Bucks, and new head coach Mike Budenholzer, are plenty familiar with this phenomenon.

Ilyasova drew 32 charges last season, second to Kyle Lowry, and led the NBA with 36 during the 2016-17 season, spending parts of both under Budenholzer with the Atlanta Hawks.

Entering Wednesday's games, Ilyasova leads the league in charges drawn with 27, four more than second-place Blake Griffin, who has played 10 more games. No one else in the league has more than 20.

As mentioned, though, Ilyasova's minutes have been down, making his propensity to draw a charge even more impressive.

Ilyasova averages 1.40 charges drawn per 36 minutes. The NBA has only kept track of such "hustle" stats since the 2016-17 season, but during that span no one -- no one -- who has played at least 400 minutes in a season has averaged more than 1.00 charges drawn per 36 minutes.

Again, Ilyasova is at 1.40 charges drawn per 36 which is head and shoulders above anyone else in the NBA.

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Ersan Ilyasova

Milwaukee Bucks