McDaniel “Happy to be Back Playing” After Injury

Monday, October 31, 2022

Tasmania JackJumpers guard Sam McDaniel is back from injury and happier than ever to be playing the sport he loves.

On the back of an outstanding off-season playing in the NBL1 South where he was named Grand Final MVP after helping lead the Hobart Chargers to the championship, McDaniel suffered a shoulder injury before the NBL Blitz, an ailment which kept him on the sidelines until Round 4.

Speaking after their disappointing 94-62 loss to the New Zealand Breakers on Sunday, McDaniel said he is ready to keep moving forward.

“I’m personally happy to be back playing. It’s a blessing to be out there and playing the game I love,” McDaniel said.

“For me it’s about the team and about winning, that’s the number one priority and we weren’t able to do that today. We’ve got bigger goals.

“It was a bit of an awkward time to get injured right before the season, right before the Blitz. So I kind of lost a little bit of footing there.

“Credit to the guys, credit to Seany Mac (Sean Macdonald) and Isaac White, and those guys for stepping up and holding down the fort. I think they’ve done a great job.

“Happy for myself to be back out there but also happy for those guys to get that opportunity.”

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The JackJumpers couldn’t keep up with the Breakers on Sunday, as New Zealand shot 13/30 from three and pulled down 46 rebounds to 34.

“They were more physical than us, they had better pressure than us, and they were hitting shots as well. Credit to them for all the threes they hit,” McDaniel said.

“We’ve got to be better with our rotations, our communication, and there’s just a whole lot more things and more areas that we can grow in.”

Tasmania had a tough schedule in October and coach Scott Roth is excited to see the back of that. The JackJumpers have had five away games in the past month and are looking forward to spending more time at home.

“We’re sitting 4-4 and we’ve had, to me, the toughest stretch of the season now is over with October, and at some point it was little bit of just trying to survive October to get to where we are,” Roth said.

“I’m not satisfied but I’m quite relieved at least, that we’re sitting in the position we are because we’ve had a hell of a month and our guys have done quite well.”

The JackJumpers are on the road again on Thursday night, in Perth to play the Wildcats.