R9 Preview: Tasmania JackJumpers vs Adelaide 36ers

Friday, January 28, 2022

Will Magnay and Tasmania are looking to deny Adelaide at MyState Bank Arena and move past the 36ers on the Hungry Jack's NBL ladder.

When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Friday 28 January 2022

Where: MyState Bank Arena, Hobart

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sport NZ

Who won last time?
Adelaide 83 (Hannahs 15, Johnson 14, King 10) d Tasmania 80 (Steindl 22, Adams 15, Magette 11), Round 2, MyState Bank Arena

A 38-19 run in 13 minutes surrounding quarter-time was decisive for Adelaide, with 17 of those points coming from the Sixers’ bench. Clint Steindl sparked a furious final-quarter run from the home team, Josh Adams twice getting the Tasmanians within a point late, only for two clutch Dusty Hannahs buckets in the final 90 seconds to deny the JJs.

What happened last start?

There was no crunch time in Wollongong, just junk time after the Hawks’ 31-14 third quarter blew the 36ers away. Adelaide were mediocre looking after the ball and atrocious hustling back to make up for their mistakes as they gave up yet another cricket score, their opponents again exposing some serious deficiencies guarding the three-point line.

The JackJumpers were also annihilated in the third, SE Melbourne scoring 32 points at 45 per cent while managing just 44 points at 36 per cent across the other three periods, the Phoenix shooting 13 of their 21 free throws in that stanza to lock the JJs out of transition. Tassie trailed by just one at half-time, but their second-half scoring woes struck again.

Who’s in form?

Cam Bairstow – The Bear is back from injury-inspired hibernation, reminding all of the WUG medal-winning, NBA playing, Olympic rep that he is. Bairstow averaged 18.5ppg at 62 per cent and 9 rebounds in back-to-back games against Melbourne and Perth, and though his touch deserted him in Wollongong, he still grabbed 6 o-boards and 10 caroms in total. He’s missed his past 5 triples however, and Adelaide need him hitting to drag Magnay to the arc.

Will Magnay – No one told Magnay it wasn’t heritage round last week, because his Simon Dwight impersonation was perfect. Also resembling the athlete who set the latter part of NBL20 alight, Two-Way Magnay swatted 5 shots, grabbed 7 d-boards and threw down a pair of spectacular one-handed ‘oops on high-speed rolls to the basket. Adelaide are struggling defensively in the frontcourt, and Magnay needs to put the same heat on the hoop Friday.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Magnay with the poster dunk to start the game<br><br>Live on <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> <br> <br>This week's game brought to you by Silver Spoon Ice Cream <a href="https://t.co/JASJQzCynH">pic.twitter.com/JASJQzCynH</a></p>— Tasmania JackJumpers ? (@JackJumpers) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackJumpers/status/1485104215865573378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who needs to be?

Tasmania’s imports – Hey Josh, JA, MiKyle, remember when you shot a combined 7/36 against the Phoenix? Yeah it was in that season where you were shooting 32 per cent between you after eight games, and 23/112 from three. Not going to get it done. While the JJs are building culture, and it is difficult to be a scorer on an expansion team with limited weapons, Tassie’s season will head further south unless this trio improve or are upgraded.

Adelaide’s imports – Todd Withers grabbed 22 rebounds in his first two NBL games. He’s only pulled in 19 in six games since. That sums up the lack of urgency Adelaide’s athletic forward plays with. Hannahs has moved to his expected spot as sixth man but has had minimal impact. His clutch buckets last time at MyState Bank Arena sparked a run of 60 points in three games, and with Mitch McCarron out, it's time to wind back the clock.

Who’s statting up?

- In Adelaide’s past three losses they’ve given up 96.7ppg on 13.3 triples at 41 per cent. In their opening four games they conceded 82.7ppg on 9.7 treys at 30 per cent

- The 36ers allowed Illawarra to score 30 points from 16 turnovers last round. In losses they cough up 8 more turnovers than opponents and are -11.8 on PFTs per game

- In Round 2, Tasmania scored 17 points from 18 Adelaide cough-ups. The JJs have committed 35 less turnovers than their opponents this season but are only +4 on PFTs

- The JackJumpers are +6 after half-time in two wins, but -55 in six losses. They average just 32.1 points in third and fourth quarters, outscoring only Adelaide, 46-41 in Round 2

Who’s matching up?

Josh Adams v Sunday Dech – It’s a tough time to be an at-the-rim player in the NBL, with defenders invading the cylinder with arm bars, then defending penetration side-on rather than in an adjacent stance. Regardless, Adams showed he can do it with 38 of his 44 points against Melbourne and NZ from the foul line or two-point range. But against SEM, just 3 of his 14 field-goal attempts came at the rim, and he didn’t shoot a single free throw.

While Dech is an outstanding defender, the other side of Adelaide’s ball-screen can be a smorgasbord for intelligent opposition guards, as Tyler Harvey and Co showed, and Adams needs to test that out repeatedly. For Adelaide coach CJ Bruton, the absence of Isaac Humphries and Tasmania’s lack of size gives the opportunity to use Withers and Manny Malou more at the four-spot and bring a more dynamic approach to their pick-and-roll D.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Josh Adams going Next Level ??<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> | <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://t.co/46ciLfkE85">pic.twitter.com/46ciLfkE85</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1466718739240345602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

After watching their team battle back from 15 down to be within five at the main break, Sixers fans would have been heartbroken with the third-quarter capitulation to the Hawks, most of all because it was their leaders setting a low bar.

Daniel Johnson began the half with two half-hearted defensive efforts that allowed a pair of Sam Froling lay-ups, then bricked a contested three when the selfless play was the feed the open Todd Withers.

Mitch McCarron was too busy complaining to the officials about a missed foul call to notice Antonius Cleveland was strolling to the basket in transition.

After committing a turnover, Cam Bairstow barely made it to half-court by the time Tyler Harvey drained a three, while Johnson and Kai Sotto’s combined effort that allowed Harry Froling to drive from the arc for an easy lay-up was one of the worst of the season.

In contrast, when the D broke down, opening up a Cleveland dunk, Sunday Dech sprinted from the weakside to contest him at the rim and at least make him earn it from the foul line.

“He’s been amazing, he’s a guy who’s a workhorse and he’s done everything since he got hurt in the last pre-season game to get himself right and he’s ticked a lot of boxes,” coach Bruton said.

“How he has bounced back has been amazing, he’s been juice and energy to be around and he’s brought that to the team and he’s definitely sparked the group, for sure.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sunday Dech.<br><br>That's it. That's the tweet.<br><br>(Plus this block) <a href="https://t.co/IH5QWgkY7c">pic.twitter.com/IH5QWgkY7c</a></p>— Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1368111962341576705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

A lack of concentration, urgency, commitment to defence and taking care of the ball has made NBL22 a roller-coaster for Adelaide fans.

In contrast, while the JackJumpers are just 2-6 and ninth on the Hungry Jack’s NBL ladder, their fans know exactly what they’ll get every night.

“Our defence has been very consistent, it is what it is at this point, we’re going to keep swinging at people and getting after people, and hopefully we’ll have some breakout games when the ball starts to go in,” coach Scott Roth said.

“These guys have mentioned all along defending the island, and that’s what we’re going to try to do every single night we go to play.”

They brought that again last Sunday when the high-octane Phoenix were in town, despite the final 13-point margin.

“We did some really good things,” Roth said.

“We had another team kick the ball over 20 times, we got smashed on the glass by 18, and this is the best or one of the best offensive teams in the league, but we keep them to 76 points.”

They held SE Melbourne to 39 per cent shooting from the floor, including 19/43 from two-point range, which had plenty to do with the incredible shot-blocking of Will Magnay.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/JackJumpers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JackJumpers</a> might have lost to the Phoenix, but Will Magnay (<a href="https://twitter.com/MagnayWill?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MagnayWill</a>) had himself a proper <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> breakout game yesterday <br><br>10 points 8 rebounds 5 BLOCKS and 2 steals for the JJ's BIG guy ?? <a href="https://t.co/iN35msw9sM">pic.twitter.com/iN35msw9sM</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1485483795554119681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“If I can block shots and we can clean up those rebounds I think it really puts us in that battle,” Magnay said, adding if they can “capitalise on our defensive stops” it will allay their offensive woes.

“We forced them into 20 turnovers, I think we've got to slow down a little bit on offence and capitalise on that.

“We play really hard defensively and I think that speeds us up a little bit, we need to be a little bit more patient but still aggressive offensively.”

If they can find Clint Steindl coming off more staggers, Jack McVeigh on more pick-and-pops and Magnay more often rolling to the basket, a third win is there for the taking, especially with Adelaide’s struggles against quality pressure defence and McCarron’s absence.

“If you turn the ball over that many times in this league that costs you,” Bruton said post-game in Wollongong.

“They had 30 points on turnovers, that’s not on the defensive end. Part of that is the d-trans, but if you cough it up certain ways it can kick your butt, and tonight was one of those nights ... there’s a mindset and a mental application that goes with that.

“Guys when they get fatigued, I probably need to do a better job of recognising that early and getting them out, but there’s a certain level of play in the NBL that’s required for us to be successful in that space and we haven't quite got to that level consistently enough.”