JackJumpers running it back for NBL25

The Tasmania JackJumpers are running it back, according to head coach Scott Roth, who after their impressive championship triumph said the club is already “really far down the line” in its roster preparations for NBL25.

Roth and the JackJumpers capped an incredible first three seasons in the competition with a Championship Series triumph over Melbourne United. They are the only team to have finished in the top four of the regular season standings in the last three campaigns, and are one of two sides to have contested two Championship Series’ in that timeframe - alongside Sydney.

Roth has always been adamant about his process of cultivating a strong core of players from which to build out from, and Jack McVeigh, Sean Macdonald, Fabijan Krslovic,Jarred Bairstow, Will Magnay and Clint Steindl have competed in all three of Tasmania’s seasons in the NBL.

“At the end of the day we are really far down the road behind the scenes in our progress on signing players back, and we’re really far down the line and our roster’s almost complete, to be quite honest with you, before we even get to the end of April,” Roth said following the title triumph.

“We have a vision of keeping this group together and making sure they stay together, but let’s just enjoy the moment, see where it leads us and not get too far ahead of ourselves.

“The work is the work and what we bring back next year we’ll bring back, and it’ll all be in an effort to make sure this franchise is moving in the right direction. Sometimes there are tough decisions to be made that aren’t overly popular and that’s my responsibility.

“We’ll continue to swing for as long as I’m in charge of this team for the next three years to make sure the people of Tasmania are proud of this group.”

Clint Steindl has captained the side since its addition to the competition ahead of NBL22, and he says this season’s championship is the perfect way to exemplify exactly how the side wants to represent the people of Tasmania.

“They’ve embraced us and their support and whatever the result was going to be today I wanted to walk off that court with them looking down and saying ‘we’re proud to have those guys represent us’,” he said. 

“I said that from day one when I arrived here – I think it was August 10 three years ago – and now we get to share this experience with them.

“I can’t wait to share it with Tasmania when we arrive, I can’t wait to share it with my family. To see them and show my appreciation to my family and our fans back home with this group we have.

“They’ve shared this experience with us and now we’ve finished it off we want to go back and show them ‘you guys are a part of this’.”

Both Melbourne and Tasmania ended up walking wounded through this series. For United, Chris Goulding and Luke Travers entered the game under injury clouds, while the JackJumpers were already without starting center Marcus Lee.

The hearts of the JackJumpers faithful briefly stopped when Will Magnay slipped and came up clutching his hamstring, before he disappeared into the locker room with the apparent injury.

The star center returned to the court though, and ended the game with 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks from just under 27 minutes of action.

“Magnay for me probably exemplifies this team,” Roth said.

“He gets hurt in the first two minutes and pulls his hamstring a little bit, and he’s basically hopping up and down and I thought one of the biggest plays of the game was the dunk he had at the very end.

“He just beasted them down there and it was a statement dunk that ‘we’re here and we’re in front of you’. He exemplified what we were going through, and the mentality of this team.

“Today in huddles I was telling them to stay poised and to win five minutes, and we’ll get to the next five minutes. They just found a way.”