McVeigh "Couldn’t Ask for Anything More" in Tasmania

Tasmania JackJumpers energetic forward Jack McVeigh has opened up on how he enjoys the laid-back Tassie lifestyle and the relationship he and the team have formed with coach Scott Roth.

McVeigh now calls Tasmania “home” after signing a two-year extension with the JackJumpers.

Speaking on The Huddle podcast, the 26-year-old emphasised the culture of the JackJumpers has been set by Roth, after a magical run to the Grand Final last season.

“I’m just so happy to be able to call Tassie home, and this club, this team, and I couldn’t ask for anything more,” McVeigh said.

“The laid-back life of Tasmania is exactly what I want, I drive two minutes to practice.

“I can see mountains outside my window, and I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. It’s beautiful.

“I’ve got to come here and be who I am, who I wanted to become, and then I’ve just been surrounded by so many good people. Scott Roth can pick character, and he’s put in place a bunch of guys that I want to call teammates for a long time.”

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The JackJumpers have won their last four games, standing at 4-3 this season. McVeigh said the grind each player puts into training ensures they bring those efforts onto the court.

“We’re showing up every single night, and we’re gonna be playing hard, playing selfless, playing together, and that’s JackJumpers basketball,” he said.

“The last two games, it was the bench that won us the game, they came on and they’re consistent.

“We come out and there’s no drop off so you know it’s a good battle for that six seven minutes and our bench comes on and you know, you got Kells (Rashard Kelly) coming in, you got Weeksy (Jarrad Weeks) that’s shooting lights out, Seany Mac (Sean Macdonald) like clamping full court and you know to see Sammy (Sam McDaniel) back out there was awesome.

“When coaches have trust in that bench, and then the bench can buy in on the defensive end, and they’re coming in and winning games.

“You don’t need to talk about buying, everyone’s eating.

“Trainings are competitive, every day if I don’t show up, Kells is putting me to sleep and you know it’s like that for everyone.

“That no drop off I think has been a real key for the way we want to play and hopefully continue to put teams away.”

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As well as praising his teammates, McVeigh says he is “nowhere near what I am capable of”, despite a strong start to the campaign.

“Offensively, the game has become very easy for me in the four spot,” McVeigh said.

“I know for the first time now what I do as a basketball player, when I go into a game I know exactly how I affect winning and what I’m gonna do to affect winning that allows me to play free and confident.”

Tasmania is back in action on Sunday at Auckland's Spark Arena against the New Zealand Breakers.