Tatum: McGee’s big debut only step one

JaVale McGee made a statement in his NBL debut, putting on a show with alley-oops, powerful dunks, soft finishes around the rim and even a few jumpers. The seven-foot, 37-year-old was an imposing force from start to finish, reminding everyone why he has three NBA titles to his name.

While McGee was dominant, Illawarra coach Justin Tatum stressed the bigger picture. The championship coach admitted his squad is still searching for chemistry and rhythm, and needs time to gel if they want to turn individual brilliance into team success.

The former NBA star finished his NBL debut with an impressive 32 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals on 15/20 shooting.

But ultimately, the Hawks fell short.

"JaVale played well and he's a 16, 17-year NBA professional so he knows the pace the game, he knows how to pace his body and understands how to play and where his spots are," Tatum said.

"His effort just like everybody else was solid, but could have been better. These guys are still learning how to play well with each other and some of our guys late came in late, and we had a quick Blitz/Singapore (Intercontinental Cup) and still haven’t had our full bodied roster to get these guys gelling.

"That's what we'll use these 33 games for and we want to make sure we use all of them to find a way to get better.

"These guys are professional and we under JaVale dominated inside the paint, because we felt that's where our strength was, and that can change game by game. These guys need to find a way to all unite and do better."

Minus Will Hickey, Jonah Bolden and Sam Froling, the JackJumpers beat the Hawks in the 'Gong on the back of 16 offensive rebounds and getting to the foul line for 27 free-throw attempts, to just 12 from Illawarra.

Tasmania also knocked down 11/36 from three-point territory, to 6/22 from the Hawks.

JackJumpers coach Scott Roth was rapt with his team’s performance, with a second straight win in enemy territory against quality opposition.

"JaVale obviously had a heck of a game, but that means (Tyler) Harvey's not touching the ball, (JaQuori) McLaughlin's not touching the ball and he's scoring twos and not scoring threes," Roth said.

"So we didn’t want to overreact to that and we kept as many big bodies as we could on him (McGee), and he was fantastic across the board.

"But ultimately those dunks are only twos at the end of the day and I don’t think you have to overreact too much.

"It's Harvey that scares the death out of you, McLaughlin shooting threes and Blanchfield, that's the great equaliser in basketball now is that three ball.

"We did another good job of defending the three-point line which we were quite concerned about to make sure we stayed on point there. Our foul discipline was really good too on the road."

The JackJumpers now move onto 2-1 on the season, while the Hawks face a massive test on Thursday night against Perth at RAC Arena.