Your George Mason Patriots have brought in a big man in Nick Ellington. Ellington is a 6โ7 center who played at Murray State.
A lot of his background information was covered in his visit article, so go give that a read. In short, this is his last season of college basketball.
Nick Ellington Scouting Report (Full Game vs. Bradley)
This was in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament.
We lost a bit of the game due to technical difficulties, probably a minute or two of game time.
Intangibles/Athleticism
First off, Ellington moves like he is 6โ7, which is a relief. His arms look kind of long, but not an absurd amount.
It is also worth noting that his team gave up a huge run the second he went out one time.
Offense
Nick gets to his screen spots fast, and stops on a dime. He sets a very solid screen.
The big man gets crafty in getting himself open for a post entry pass. With his size, he has to. The speed also gives him a wider catch radius on entry passes. If the Murray State transfer gets switched onto a smaller player, he has trouble taking advantage due to a lack of height, and can get ball-denied.
Speaking of the post, the former JUCO product can occasionally get crafty in the post, but is better as a play finisher. Heโs good at drawing and absorbing contact.
Ellington is good at finding space in the pick and roll. If he gets to his spot, the shot is going in.
The center is good at catching the ball, which is always something I look for. He can get it knocked out of his hands, but after past experiences, I care about if you can catch it and go up for a dunk when open. I wonโt get too picky.
As mentioned earlier, the 6โ7 big can get downcourt in a hurry, which can cause defensive lapses/confusion. It is always good to have someone who can stop the defense from getting set.
Nick is good at keeping offensive rebounding positioning once he gets it, while also getting his own miss pretty often. I watched him get a monster putback, showing he is able to gather it and dunk while in the air.
The free throw form looks fine.
Defense
Ellington can get backed down in the post, having trouble with 7โ1 250 Ahmet Jonovic, but to be fair, so did Jalen Haynes and Gio Emejuru.
Nick is good at maintaining positioning for defensive rebounds, holding boxouts once he gets them initially.
Murray State had him playing a lot of drop coverage on picks early on, so he would not come out to the perimeter to guard the ball-handler. They made a change I the second half where Ellington would fly to the ball handler, and it went fine. Overall, he seems like a decent perimeter defender.
Nick sometimes was late over to help sometimes as a rim protector, but would do a great job at staying vertical when he was on time.
The 6โ7 big with long arms is pretty good at entry pass denial, being somewhat similar to Malik Henry is that regard. Another thing the long arms help him with is being able to cover inbound passes, where he will hop around and put his arms and legs into an X. That was fun to watch.
Areas of Improvement
One thing I noticed was that Ellington can be late to help over in the paint, hopefully that can be fixed with coaching. I believe I had similar thoughts with Haynes and it ended up not being a problem.
The shooting goes without saying, we are probably not seeing any noticeable improvement in year 6, especially if the backup big is a shooter.
The last thing is that I would like to see Nick get better at creating rebounds, not just taking what the opponent gives him.
Joeโs turn.
Nick Ellington Scouting Report (First Half vs. Western Kentucky)
So- Nick Ellington. Now, I know what much of Mason Nation is thinking. You may be a bit underwhelmed by a 6โ7โ center. I get it a bit, I do. But there is much to like about Ellington.
First, heโs a lanky guy. Even as a slightly undersized center (if he was stated at 6โ8 I donโt think weโd be harping on it that much), Ellington clearly has the length and wingspan to compensate. Thatโs good.
I got to watch his first half against Western Kentucky from this past season. Right out the gate, he gets an opportunity inside and made no mistake. I liked it. The offensive instincts are there.
Something that is very very clear from the first minute is that Ellington is a physical player. He likes contact, heโs willing to both give it and take it down low. Thatโs a good trait to have for an undersized big man. The Western Kentucky commentators also pointed out his screening ability, saying how crucial it was to Murray Stateโs offense.
This has been something both me and Palmer have been talking about internally, but with the bucket getters Tony and co. have gotten in the portal already, Mason does not necessarily need a big who will consistently get you 10+ ppg. We need someone who fits the pick and roll offense, plays physical and can get more like 7-8 ppg. I can see the vision with Ellington there.
He also caught a lob out of an inbound play with 1 second left on the shot clock, showcasing some athleticism. I like that. He also did show competency at affecting shots in the paint from drivers and at getting out to the three point line to defend three point shooters, very similar to what we saw Jalen Haynes do this year. There is athleticism there, and it does work for him.
Like I said already, I see the vision with Ellington and what the staff likes about him. Is he perfect? No, and the size in the A-10 is a concern. But again, if he were 6โ8 (which I will remind you is the same height as Jalen Haynes) I donโt think weโd be talking about it. And Ellingtonโs above average wingspan and motor is going to get him minutes on this team. I am excited to see what he does- I think there is fan favorite potential there.
Now, back to Palmer.
Ratings
We are still using the 20-80 scale.
Athleticism: 50 โ This would be a 55 if he was 6โ9, but you have to be unreal as a 6โ7 center for me to be wowed.
Shooting: 25 โ This is a 25 because I saw him hit a midrange in a highlight reel one time. Since a 20 is a zero on this scale, that has to be noted in some way.
Post Defense: 45 โ This would be a 40 if I had not seen Jalen Haynes and Emejuru getting beat up by this 7โ1 dude too, so I am grading on a bit of a curve. Being 6โ7 will probably be a problem in a game or two throughout the season.
Help Defense/Rim Protecting:50 โ This was a bit of a mixed bag. Sometimes he was late, sometimes he made a great play.
Screen-setting: 60 โ This dude hits people with brick walls and stops at the last moment. He is going to get some moving screens called incorrectly.
Inside Scoring: 55 โ This dude finishes plays.
Rebounding: 50 โ At some point during the possession the opponent will give up rebounding position, and Ellington will likely keep it from then on. The problem is, it seems like he needs to be given it, which may be the size problem. It is odd since the 6โ7 center can get open for entry passes pretty easily, but getting in rebounding position is tough. He is definitely trying, but I would expect those two skillsets to match.
Post Scoring: 45 โ Does better as a play finisher, but is not useless in the post. Will occasionally pull out a spin or something that is pretty cool.
Where Does Ellington Fit In?
As it stands right now, Nick is probably the starting center. The team has Riley Allenspach and Emmanuel Kanga as other options, but for Kanga, although I am a big fan, it would not be wise to bank on a true freshman starting. For Allenspach, I think he could compete for the starting job, but I would be surprised if the shooting big took it.
Also, this is a sixth-year senior, a grown man. Moving up from the OVC is less likely to cause a physicality issue than with the freshman, Kanga, or Allenspach, the junior from the SoCon.
