R10 Preview: Tasmania JackJumpers vs Sydney Kings

When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Friday 4 February 2022

Where: MyState Bank Arena, Hobart

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sport NZ


Who won last time?
Sydney 83 (Martin 24, Bayles 12, Cooks 12) d Tasmania 71 (Steindl 15, Magette 13, McIntosh 11) - Round 3, Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

The JackJumpers controlled the majority of this game, a 54-35 run bridging quarter-time and half-time putting them in the driver’s seat midway through the third term. But Biwali Bayles turned the contest with his energy, Xavier Cooks came to life late to support Jarell Martin and Sydney’s defence held Tassie to 10 points in the final 11:50 as the Kings prevailed.


What happened last start?

Chase Buford’s men have gotten back to winning ways the past fortnight with impressive displays against Brisbane and the Wildcats. Behind the brilliant Jaylen Adams, the Kings’ speed and energy never allowed Perth to get a consistent rhythm, their defence locked down the interior and cleaned the d-boards, and their shooters smoked from the outside.

Tasmania is also on a two-game winning streak, the first in their short history, and they built it on pressure defence and offensive rebounding, which saw them go +22 in the possession game over the weekend. On Sunday, they also found an offensive groove not seem for some time, with Josh Magette and Jack McVeigh finally finding their deadly three-point touch.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Josh Magette, weaponized ? <a href="https://t.co/0iuL1UDCfj">pic.twitter.com/0iuL1UDCfj</a></p>&mdash; Tasmania JackJumpers ? (@JackJumpers) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackJumpers/status/1487955880939122691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

Who’s in form?

Josh Magette – Finally. Finally. For the first time in nine games Magette shot above 30 per cent from long range, ending a horror run of 12/57 (21%). He did it in style too, downing 7/11 to cap a remarkable weekend of 19ppg, 7.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and a pair of wins. When their leader plays like that, you better believe the Jackies are on the march.

Jaylen Adams – Josh is not the only jet finding form, Adams averaging a brilliant 26.7 points, 7.0 assists and 6.5 boards in his past three games, nailing 15/31 from distance as Sydney have at last looked like the high-speed, entertaining squad coach Buford envisaged. He had six turnovers against Perth and five against Melbourne, however, something Tasmania will target.


Who needs to be?

Matt Kenyon – Targeting Adams is one thing, stopping him quite another, and the man who will lead that armada is Kenyon, the JackJumpers’ clear leader in plus/minus – they are +40 with him playing and -50 with him benched. Kenyon scored 17 points on 4/7 from range and grabbed 11 boards in 40 minutes as a starter last round, but using his physicality to deny Adams catches, and running him off the arc in transition are his biggest tasks this Friday.

Jarell Martin – Last time these teams met Martin was the difference, firing in 24 points on 8/14 two-pointers, with all those from within five feet of the hoop. He also grabbed three o-boards and drained a pair of triples that day, creating more headaches for a Tassie team that has struggled to defend the four-spot. In bad news for the hosts, Jarell has averaged 19.4ppg in his past seven outings at 51 per cent, and hit 22 points at 70 per cent on Perth.


Who’s statting up?

 - Star power forwards Martin, Vic Law, Mitch Creek and Robert Franks have averaged 24 points on 55 per cent two-point shooting against Tasmania

 - The JackJumpers pulled in 17.5 o-boards per game last round at 39 per cent, including seven in the final six minutes against Adelaide. Prior to Round 9, they had grabbed just 8.5 per game at 31 per cent

 - In their past two games, Sydney have held opponents to just 16 two-point baskets at 37 per cent. In their previous three contests they leaked 23 two-pointers at 58 per cent

 - In the past five games, the Kings have been +57 in Xavier Cooks’ 122 minutes on the floor and -42 in the other 78 minutes


Who’s matching up?

Will Magnay v Xavier Cooks – Take away the controversial ejection game, and Cooks’ past four have delivered 15.3 points at 60 per cent on two-pointers, 11.8 rebounds, 3.0 o-boards and 2.0 blocks per game. Add to that his ability to shut down some of the best big men in the Hungry Jacks’ NBL and spark transition, and he is firmly established as the Kings’ barometer.

One thing he hasn’t done consistently is hit the three-ball, just 1/9 in the past five outings, and that’s troublesome against Magnay, who has blocked 12 shots in the past four games. A stretch big can trouble Magnay’s outstanding paint-focused defence and force rotations, so look for Sydney to use big-to-big screening action to achieve the Magnay-Martin match-up.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">X-Man. X-Slam.<a href="https://twitter.com/xaviercooks10?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@xaviercooks10</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> LIVE + FREE on 10 Peach <a href="https://t.co/nrjoENxGMh">pic.twitter.com/nrjoENxGMh</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1487655110909960192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Who’s talking the talk?

Everyone knows Will Magnay is a hell of a talent, but it’s easy to forget how quickly he has grown from a gangly development player at the Brisbane Bullets.

“I think people forget he’s only 23 years old and he’s only played 76 basketball games in his career,” JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said.

“You’ve got to think about how young and how raw he is at the end of the day, and his growth and what can happen with him.

“I'm going to continue to push him as hard as I possibly can to get the most out of him, that was my commitment to him and I'm sticking to it.”

After almost two years hampered by injuries, Magnay is returning to the form that elevated him to the NBA and the Boomers squad.

“He’s starting to string together his practices and that’s starting to string together his games,” Roth said.

“We've put in some extra work which we’ll continue to do with him after practice or before, just try to push the buttons with him to get him to the level I still believe he can get to.”



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Magnay and Magette setting the pace early<br><br>Live now on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/Foxtel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foxtel</a> <a href="https://t.co/5n9Mm2NH6k">pic.twitter.com/5n9Mm2NH6k</a></p>&mdash; Tasmania JackJumpers ? (@JackJumpers) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackJumpers/status/1486985153150787590?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


One reason Magnay’s practice schedule has re-elevated his game so quickly is going head-to-head with the hard-as-nails Jarred Bairstow each day.

“Jarred, when I was in Perth, really impacted that team in a short amount of time with this work ethic,” Roth said.

“He comes to practice and does the things you don’t see behind the scenes, like forcing Will Magnay to play extra hard at practice, all those little things.

“I know he’d love be playing more minutes, but he is there and he’s ready to go and he brings the energy and passion.

“I’ll take those guys all the time over a real talented guy who doesn’t have the motivation or wherewithal to get better.”

Another who fits that basket is Matt Kenyon.

“I'm going to play who I think should play, who earns the minutes during the practice time and on the court, and Matt Kenyon’s been working,” Roth said.

“He’s been working on his shot, he led us in rebounding tonight with 8 rebounds, making his open threes, a tough defender, really unselfish and I think the sky’s the limit for him.

“I think he’s a diamond in the rough that people have passed over.”

He’ll likely be taking on a real diamond on Friday night in superstar Kings point guard Jaylen Adams, after the Tasmanians luckily avoided Mitch McCarron and Peyton Siva last round.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">OH MY FREAKIN&#39; GOODNESS <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <br><br>? <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> Freebies <a href="https://t.co/rNFp2MRmGI">pic.twitter.com/rNFp2MRmGI</a></p>&mdash; Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1487670845736509440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>




While Jaylen dazzles with his offence, his team defence speaks of another selfless, hard-working pro.

“Jaylen’s a terrific defender,” coach Chase Buford said.

“Go look at how many plays where someone comes off (a screen) and Jaylen’s just in a perfect shift (position) or guarding somebody else.”

His partnership with Wani Swaka Lo Buluk – who held Bryce Cotton to 6/17 on Sunday – gives the Kings an elite defensive backcourt to go at in-form Tassie imports Josh Magette and Josh Adams.

“(Cotton) got a couple of buckets early and I was into Swak, saying you’ve got to be better,” Buford said.

“From that moment on I thought Swak was terrific. It’s come to a point now where no one’s surprised we just expect it from him because he’s such a terrific defender, he competes so hard.

“It’s how he earned the starting job, he came in as an injury replacement player and has just proven his worth. He takes two shots tonight but we’re a +23 when he’s on the floor, his defence is just terrific.”

Of course, the foundation Sydney’s fourth-ranked defence is Xavier Cooks, whose athletic battle with Magnay should be worth the price of admission.

With the JackJumpers able to leapfrog Sydney into fifth place with a win at the Anthill on Friday, Buford is hoping some controversial calls that have gone against his superstar are now a thing of the past.

“We’ve got to keep X on the floor. We are amazing when Xavier Cooks plays minutes for us,” he said.

“I think Xav’s got a bad break a few games recently, hopefully those revert back to the mean, so to speak, so he’s able to play more than 19 minutes next game.”