Preview: Tasmania vs New Zealand - Round 8, NBL24

Thursday, November 16 at 7:30pm AEDT | Silverdome

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports - International viewership details
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This clash will be the first time Tasmania and New Zealand have met since the Breakers knocked the JackJumpers out of last season’s Playoffs.

Tasmania welcomed back center Will Magnay to the lineup for the first time this season in last week’s win over Adelaide.

Milton Doyle and Jordon Crawford both earned Chemist Warehouse Fans MVP nominations for their performances in the low-scoring victory.

Derek Rucker labelled the Breakers as “putrid” following their loss against Perth, and floated the idea that import guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright is continuing to slow down.

Tasmania
82-72 win over Adelaide
87-85 win over Brisbane
87-90 loss to Brisbane

New Zealand
76-94 loss to Perth
85-87 loss to Sydney
91-81 win over Cairns

Will Magnay
Is it a coincidence that Tasmania import center Marcus Lee pulled together what is likely his best performance in a JackJumpers uniform in the same game fellow big Will Magnay returned to the lineup? Maybe, but maybe not.

Magnay has been one of the NBL’s most frustrating players since returning to the league after his stint with the New Orleans Pelicans. When he’s up and thriving he’s the type of rim-running, athletic center that puts bums on seats with his monster blocks and dunks.

His problem, though, has been his inability to get up and running, and he only made his NBL24 debut last weekend after suffering a foot injury while playing in Spain over the off-season.

He played just 12 minutes for three points – all free throw makes – an assist and no rebounds, but it was great to see Magnay back in action.

Hopefully he can continue to improve as the season progresses and, come crunch time, be back to that player he was at the end of NBL20 that had NBA teams sniffing around him.

“I felt good, I just need to keep building my conditioning and game reps … I’m just going to stay on top of my rehab and prehab, eat right, stay fit, and just do all the right things. That’ll take me where I deserve to go. I trust what I’ve done to get my body right and if I didn’t trust I could dive on the floor I wouldn’t be out there. That’s how I play the game and I’ll keep doing that until I can’t walk anymore.” – Will Magnay mid-week.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hear from Center Will Magnay and Assistant Coach Mark Radford as they re-cap Magnay’s return.<br><br>Watch the full version via the JackJumpers YouTube. <a href="https://t.co/yoaQwtVqTi">pic.twitter.com/yoaQwtVqTi</a></p>&mdash; Tasmania JackJumpers ? (@JackJumpers) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackJumpers/status/1724336376630435929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Will McDowell-White
Labelling any team as “putrid” is a big call, but former NBL MVP Derek Rucker sent a shot across the bow of the Breakers after their disappointing 18-point loss to Perth last week.

Head coach Mody Maor has long been a believer in the fact it doesn’t matter who starts – and two of his most talented players in Anthony Lamb and Will McDowell-White both spent the opening plays of the game on the bench against the Wildcats.

Lamb thrived with 25 points, while McDowell-White continued his struggles with five points, two boards and six assists in over 30 minutes of court time.

The frustrating thing about McDowell-White this season is he has shown flashes of the game-breaking Most Improved candidate he was in NBL23, but his pre-season hand injury has limited his output.

While there are a number of Breakers players that need to improve if New Zealand is to turn its season around, it’s likely safe to say that improvement will start with McDowell-White picking up his own output.

He’s a potential star of this competition, so hopefully he turns it around and stars playing like it.

“They looked rudderless the other night. I didn’t like the body language the identity and the purpose. Losing a player of Zylan Cheatham’s talent is a kick in the guts but as a group you’ve got to rebound … right now they look pretty putrid, they look weak, and that’s not something we’ve said about a Mody Maor team … I still don’t love bringing Will McDowell-White off the bench, that doesn’t sit right with me.” – Derek Rucker on Moments That Mattered

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Will McDowell-White is getting busy ? <br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo | SkySport in NZ ? <a href="https://t.co/mSNasJIhyZ">pic.twitter.com/mSNasJIhyZ</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1720355773388132515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Jordon Crawford vs Parker Jackson-Cartwright
The two leading lights of Damon Lowery’s ‘Little Big Man Society’ will face off for the first time in the NBL on Thursday, and both are equally crucial to their teams’ fortunes.

Crawford and Milton Doyle look to have found the balance in Tasmania’s back-court that the Breakers are still searching for with Jackson-Cartwright and Will McDowell-White, however Jackson-Cartwright has established himself as a genuine star of the competition in his short time here.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">“This is the year of the little big man.&quot; ?<br><br>Damon Lowery is full of praise for star imports Jordon Crawford and Parker Jackson-Cartwright.<br><br>Listen to the full episode - <a href="https://t.co/euWBuMArio">https://t.co/euWBuMArio</a> <a href="https://t.co/X9odl5Mryu">pic.twitter.com/X9odl5Mryu</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1716672310751727795?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Crawford has scored in double-digits in every game this season, and currently has the longest active streak of registering at least one steal in a game eof everyone in the competition.

Conversely, Jackson-Cartwright is currently the competition’s leading scorer with 20.4 points per game, and ranks third in the league for steals per game this season.

Both diminutive guards love to score and steal, and it makes for an intriguing back-court battle on Thursday night.

Tasmania has won each of its last seven Thursday night games, while the Breakers have lost their last six away games. A JackJumpers win at the Silverdome would continue both streaks.

Jack McVeigh.

Tasmania
Nil

New Zealand
Justinian Jessup – pelvis (TBC)
Zylan Cheatham – foot (Round 12)