To me this is a no-brainer.
Chili Nephawe was the most improved player for last year's team and I think as a senior he should play center alongside a true power forward type. Whether or not that's how the Aggies coaches see it, we will determine in a couple months, but early indications were they want to put one of their many athletic forward types on the floor to free up some space and perhaps open up the Aggies offense we have seen the past couple years.
The obvious question with Nephawe is was his improvement simply a result of teams focusing on Sim Bhullar? It certainly freed Nephawe up for one on one action most of the time, but he scored against Bairstow from New Mexico who is in the NBA now. His rebounding 7.8 and blocks 1.4 were both career highs, which to me were the biggest things he needed to address, especially in conference play. With freshmen playing behind him, the center spot should be his
Tanveer Bhullar is a mystery, but he will certainly contribute. Whether or not he could pass Nephawe on the depth chart probably depends on how he looks when school starts. When Nephawe and Sim Bhullar played together, Sim was actually the power forward because he's such a good passer and he was the last player down the court at the high post. I imagine both posts will play together for spells with Tanveer playing a similar role to his brother, but at least to start the season, Bhullar could be coming off the bench.
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Very good points on Chili and Tanveer, I think we are all guilty of assuming Tanveer picks up where Sim left off. Being power forward rich is a definite luxury, although we may be center rich if Chili plays at center. Curious if Jonathan Wilkins development behind Tanveer pushes Chili to the starting forward spot. I like Tanveer starting at the center with Chili on his hip to push his development (Chili is outspoken and vocal, I would bet he keeps Tanveer on task in the paint). Like watching Sacramento this summer, I sure hate to see exceptional size sitting on the bench. Tanveer appears to be more agile and better conditioned to run the floor than his older brother so maybe we don’t set up and wait for him on offense. We can always adjust during games and move Chili to the center and bring in the young, long armed, sleek forwards and press and run for a change of pace. Everybody loves to run, gun and press …… right up until you run yourself out of the game in the first half. Let’s go size and strength early with Tanveer at Center, Chili at power forward, DK and DMull at the guard spots and Ian bringing the ball up.
Chili is a lock at center.
From what I understand, Tanveer is even more of a high post player than Sim was. He's more of a mid-range range threat, so if he starts, it'll be at the PF.
The question is, will MM start a more athletic and mobile player over Tanveer? I doubt it. Tanveer was on the bench at every game last year. He was recruited by high majors. I feel like Menzies will go with Tanveer knowing that he's going to be super deep at that position if Tanveer doesn't produce. Unless Anthony January is eligible and too good to not start.
Good problem to have for Menzies.
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