Injury Carnage for JackJumpers

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Tasmania JackJumpers star Josh Magette looks set for a stint on the sidelines, after suffering a facial injury in Saturday night’s win over the Illawarra Hawks.

Magette was elbowed by William Hickey in the third quarter and left the game, with broadcast cameras showing the JackJumpers’ point guard in obvious pain on the bench while nursing a swollen face.

Despite the win securing fourth spot for Tasmania, coach Scott Roth conceded it came at a cost, with the early signs not positive on Magette’s diagnosis – leaving his status for next week’s third v fourth Seeding Qualifier game in doubt.

“Costly (night) for us. Magette is in some serious pain and it’s probably not going to be a good outcome for him,” Roth said.

“We are hoping to rally around him and support him as best we can. They’re calling (the hospital) right now and figuring out some things they have to do with him, but he is in a bad way.

“He has ice packs on, they’re trying to get him to the hospital in the best way they possibly can.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tasmania's Josh Magette went straight to the sidelines after this collision with Illawarra's William Hickey. <a href="https://t.co/VDJ8t7nHkG">pic.twitter.com/VDJ8t7nHkG</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1621777553697677312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Big man Will Magnay and sharpshooter Clint Steindl also left the game with lingering injury questions, in a damaging night for the JackJumpers.

“Magnay got a big shot to the mouth too and his lip is quite large and painful,” Roth said.

“He (Steindl) came up a little lame also, so we will see how he goes in the next two to three days once we get home.

“It is quite an expensive night for us but the reality is, it is sports…these guys will continue to get the next guy in, next man up.”

On a better front, Roth said he expects Rashard Kelly to return for the Finals, after he missed the Hawks game with an illness.

Tasmania has finished in the top four in its first two seasons in franchise history, an achievement that shouldn’t be overlooked, according to Roth.

“Super proud of this group. No one in their right mind again thought we could ever finish in the top four. Proved a lot of naysayers wrong again. To win 16 games in this league is no joke and our guys earned their way through,” he added.