By Palmer Johnson
Your George Mason Patriots will be playing the Charlotte 49ers, the 137th ranked team on KenPom, in the Jacksonville Classic down in Florida on Sunday at 5:30pm. You can pay to watch it on passthaballlive’s website.
I watched the first half of Charlotte’s most recent game against Utah Valley; here is what I saw.
Charlotte Scouting Report
Early on in the game, Charlotte was struggling to inbound the ball in the half court. It didn’t seem like Utah Valley was doing anything super special, they were playing an underneath zone and were forcing them to throw it over them, which forced a timeout. There were multiple times throughout the first half where it felt like they could have called a five-second violation. They also got multiple moving screens in a couple minute span.
For their offense, what I saw somewhat mismatched with the numbers I saw on KenPom. They took and made a contested three in transition, which was surprising. It seems like their first look is trying to get an open three on most possessions. It may not be exactly the same, but their offense looks a bit similar to Mason’s during the Kim English era. You try to get an open three, then get it into their post guy (Dishon Jackson) who either gets a 1 on 1 or an open shooter.
On defense, Charlotte doubles inside a lot. Utah Valley only scored 6 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. The only think they could really get was the longer mid-range, which was by design I assume.
Dishon Jackson, their 6’11 260 center, could be a good gauge for how Mason’s bigs will handle St. Joe’s Christ Essandoko, who’s 7’0 285.
Another interesting thing, Lu’Cye Patterson, a 6’2 guard, was getting post touches. Jared Billups should be able to handle this if it becomes a problem.
Charlotte By The Numbers
The 49ers run a very slow offense, with their tempo being ranked 349th in the country. They are very good at defensive rebounding and playing foul-free basketball, being top 50 in both. Charlotte is a very big team, with their average height being over 6’6, which sets them as the 21st tallest team.
From their shot chart, it seems like they feast in the paint, and are just kind of okay everywhere else.
Prediction
Mason wins 71-66. It is a pretty close game throughout, but Amari Kelly is able to keep Dishon Jackson in check and stays out of foul trouble. I think Darius Maddox will be the top scorer.
