Back in the good days of Weber Painter and Lowery the Dawgs really never had a true point guard until Mullins and I could see that system or something similar not to mention last year until he was hurt Domask played some point forward I don't see alot of weaknesses because of so many interchangeable pieces
Not sure why you would bench Filewich in favor of Muila tbh. Filewich put much better rebounding and much better offensive numbers as a true freshman against D1 players than Muila did against JUCO competition as a sophomore.
You can't just look at stats as if the tells the entire story. Muila played at one of the top juco's in the country, Indian Hills. At this point Muila is a better defender, rebounder and rim protector. He is much more athletic than Fillewich. Fillewich is a better scorer. They will both get plenty of minutes, but Mullins puts a priority on defense and rebounding. Fillewich gave up lots of easy baskets around the rim to post players and driving guards alike. Muila will negate that much more than Fillewich. they both have roles on this team.
While Muila was playing at "one of the top JUCOs in the country" Filewich was putting up better stats against D1 players. Including rebounding.
I am also going to go out on a limb and guess you have never actually seen Muila play outside of a YouTube highlight video.
Lack of point guard depth is certainly a concern.
I actually think Jones was quite improved on TOs from 1st year. He had 5 high TO games that kinda skewed the average.
The The Loyola OT game he had 7, but he also played 43 minutes (and scored 30 points). Had to be exhausted and that is going cause TOs to go up. WO him, Loyola beat us by 24 in the tourney.
1st Loyola game, which was a close 8 pt loss, he had 8 TOs.
Our win against Valpo, he had 5 but played 40 minutes (and had 21 pts.)
Our win against Evansville he had 5 TOs.
Our loss to Bradley he had 5 TOs.
Other than those 5 games, he wasn't bad, and the fact is he played excessive minutes in a lot of games due to the absence of Domask.
I don't think it can be argued that LJ's TOs caused any losses last year, but you'd certainly like to avoid those 5+ games. (or all TOs for that matter) Fact is, you don't want to get so cautious you lose that offensive spark or energy.
The key to this season is defense IMO. We can't get dominated in the middle like we did.
I think we'll be better offensively and better rebounding. Definitely have some talent but most MVC teams have improved their talent.
While Muila was playing at "one of the top JUCOs in the country" Filewich was putting up better stats against D1 players. Including rebounding.
I am also going to go out on a limb and guess you have never actually seen Muila play outside of a YouTube highlight video.
Let's revisit this a few games into the season. I'm pretty confident the eye test will tell us Muila is a better rebounder, defender and rim protector. I like Fillewich a lot, but if you think he was a plus player on defense or rebounding, you are sorely mistaken. He was not good on the offensive boards, a poor rim protector and was schooled by opposing post players post moves. His defensive rebounding statistics were greatly enhanced by being our only post player on the court most of the time he was on the floor. If Domask wasn't hurt he would have taken a couple rebounds a game away from Fillewich's stats. Fillewich did improve his rebounding as the season went on, but he has a long way to go. Again, I like Fillewich a lot, but he will never be as athletic as Muila. They will compliment each other well, but I expect Muila to get a little more PT next year when healthy.
One thing a lot of people don't realize is just how good JUCO basketball really is. There's a LOT of talent there. Between the droves of athletically gifted but academically challenged, knuckleheads, high-major recruits and talents that routinely made one year stops there between D1 transfers so they wouldn't have to sit out a year before the rule change. Make no mistake; most decent JUCO teams will mop any D2 and can compete with and beat low-major and some mid-major D1 squads. Our very own John A. Logan would beat a lot of D1's (and have an alum picked in last years NBA draft and currently on the Clippers roster).
This isn't an argument for or against Muila, but discrediting his past competition is a gross mistake.
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I am inclined to agree. As much as I like Filewich, AND I DO, Mulia was the 24th ranked player in JUCO before he came here. I have said before that I think he is one of the keys to the season. If one is going to compare the stats, take a look at rebounds per minute. Have I ever seen Muila play live? No, but you can see the athleticism. And I think he will surprise many who continue to say he can't score. I don't think the staff will be scheming offensive plays around him (LOL) but he will get his pts and many on powerful dunks, which is something Filewich was not strong at. To be clear, this is more a praise of Muila than a knock on Filewich because without him this team would have been even worse off last year.
I believe JD will be starting my mid-season at the latest and would not be a bit surprised to see him starting at the beginning of the season.
Either way, with the 3 guys we have down low, it's the most depth we've had in as long as I can remember.
Here’s a question: what is our weakest position this year? I would be interested in hearing people’s opinions. Not implying that we are weak in any position, it’s a question of relativity speaking.
That's a tough, but excellent question. I would say PG. Jones has developed into such a good shooter that I think it would ideal for him to start at SG. Don't get me wrong, he CAN beat nearly anyone off the dribble so I'm not saying take the ball out of his hands. But when you can shoot like he can, I think it would help to have a PG that can come in, handle the ball, reduce turn overs, break down the D and then dish out to open shooters like Jones, Domask, Wonders, etc. If Banks can improve his shooting, both outside and at the FT line and use his court vision, I think this team would be even stronger. That being said, I don't think you'll see this at the start of the season. We still have a month to go, but I believe if the season started today you see Jones at PG and Brown at SG. I don't expect that to remain the entire season though.
I believe we are selling Filewich short in my opinion thrust into the lineup a year early could be beneficial for the future he proved he has offensive skills and will be able to continue to improve as far as defense and rebounding those are a matter of desire and there is no question he has those qualities after a year of off season conditioning and strength training and college coaching we will see a tremendous improvement in his skills
I know Trent Brown has Mullins trust and is the likely starting 2 guard, however, I feel that for this team to maximize its potential, the right role for Trent is coming off the bench for 20 minutes a game, give or take.
I love what he brings to this team, but something about him that hasn't really been discussed is as many minutes and as hard as he plays may be a key factor for why he's been so inconsistent shooting the 3.
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I absolutely agree. I love this kid, he seems to embody what being a Saluki is all about. Not only does he give max effort on the court but is the teams biggest "cheerleader" when off the floor. After starting off so hot from deep last year he struggled with consistency down the stretch. Perhaps the minutes had something to do with it. Either way, I'd like to see him give up a few more minutes this year to some of the newcomers. The bench is so much deeper, I think the core players can lose some playing time but perhaps be even more effective.
Great to see how far he's come and that he feels ready to go! He will bring a skill set to the post we haven't had in some time. With Fllewich's offensive and passing skills and Muila's defense, rebounding, rim protection and athleticism we will have balance at the 5. If Ebube develops our depth at the 5 will be outstanding. A former weakness may be a strength this year, and that will be huge!!!!
