MILWAUKEE -- The past three weeks have undoubtedly been the best stretch in the young career of Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova.
The 24-year-old Turkey native and 2005 second-round pick has posted seven double-doubles in his last 10 games. Ilyasova had a 29-point, 25-round game in New Jersey on Feb. 19, and against the Bulls on Wednesday scored a career-high 32 points.
"He's been rebounding the ball at a great rate pretty much the whole season," coach Scott Skiles said Wednesday. "He doesn't take as many ill-advised threes, and that's had a very positive effect on his game. He's not running around searching for the (3-point) line, as so many guys do. If he finds it and he's behind it and his feet are set, he lets it go.
"From 12 to 18 feet, when his feet are set, he's a high-level shooter. He's found his areas there. The main thing is his overall effort on the glass. He's really stood out. He stands out almost every night there."
When asked what has contributed to Ilyasova's drastic increase in recent production, Skiles pointed out what is the only possible drawback to his strong play.
"He's in his contract year," Skiles said with a grin.
This summer, the 6-foot-10, 235-pound Ilyasova will be an unrestricted free agent. Therefore, the Bucks have no protection from losing Ilyasova if another team makes him a strong contract offer.
Regardless of what his future holds, Ilyasova has shown recently just how good he can be when getting consistent minutes. Ilyasova's 14 of 18 shooting performance against the Bulls is just one example of solid shot selection that has helped bring him to a career-best 45.8 percent field-goal shooting this season.
"Ers has done a much better job of just keeping it simple for himself," Skiles said. "As a result, he's become a much more effective player."
But with the Bucks record at 15-24, Ilyasova is more concerned with getting wins than having improved statistics.
"It's great to have personal highs, but when you lose the game it feels a lot different than if we would win," Ilyasova said. "When you score 30 points and we lose the game, it's useless."
New starting lineup: Skiles is still looking for the right starting combination. Since the Bucks lost Andrew Bogut to an ankle fracture, Milwaukee has been playing without a true center. That has forced Drew Gooden into that spot, where he has played remarkably well, but finding pieces around him is still a work in progress.
Rookie forward Tobias Harris has started the past three games, but Skiles has not been happy with the result and will likely change it up again before the Bucks host the New York Knicks on Friday.
"All year we've been trying to start games with intensity," Skiles said after losing to the Bulls. "We've had intensity during games in moments, but we're searching for it and we need to be able to find something we can start a game.
"We don't have to break out of the gate with a 12-4 (lead) every game, but we're just having breakdowns, breakdowns, breakdowns, one right after the other. We have to find a way to get a lineup out there that can get us a little bit of foundation in the game."
With Luc Mbah a Moute likely to miss more games due to a sore right knee, Skiles' options are limited. He could re-insert Shaun Livingston back into the starting lineup or could try a two point-guard lineup with Beno Udrih and Brandon Jennings.
Playing hard: Despite the loss to Chicago on Wednesday, Skiles loved his team's effort. Now that's something he wants to see from the Bucks every game.
"Our record wouldn't be like it is if we battled every game like we battled tonight," Skiles said. "Our record would be much better. It's not the fact can we do it one night in a game against the division leader, it's can we do it again on Friday night, can we do it next week? If we play with that type of intensity all the time, we'd be a playoff team."
Linsanity hits Milwaukee: The Bucks conclude a three-game home stand this week when Jeremy Lin and the Knicks visit the Bradley Center. New York currently holds the Eastern Conference's eighth seed and is three games ahead of Milwaukee, which is currently in ninth.
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