Roth backs 'next man up' mentality

Jack McVeigh is officially on his way to the NBA, and if recent speculation is on the mark, Will Magnay could be next to follow.

That leaves the championship-winning Tasmania team with an almighty predicament - how do you replace stars of that calibre?

The JackJumpers are delighted for McVeigh, just as they will be for Magnay should an opportunity present on an NBA roster. But where will that leave their roster for NBL25?

Coach Scott Roth says if any team can overcome adversity, it’s Tasmania. Like they’ve shown so many times before when behind in games, when no one rated them, when success looked near-on impossible, the JackJumpers tend to prevail against the odds.

For Roth, it’s just about going back to the drawing board, and a proven formula of success.

"We've done it for three years and we've had multiple players that have at the end of the day been either sick, or ill, or missed games or spent weeks out at a time, and you'd have to fill them in," he told The Examiner.

"So we've manufactured that over the course of three years of doing it, and Jack will be gone for a bit, and we'll see how it goes with him."

The JackJumpers’ 'next man up' mentality has held them in great stead across three winning seasons and three Finals runs, culminating in their first Championship in NBL24. 

While McVeigh, of course, would very much be welcomed back to the club if things don’t quite work out in the US, Roth says Tasmania is preparing for life without the Boomers star.

He said the club was “way down the road” in signing a replacement.

The JackJumpers have maintained the vast majority of their championship roster and will no doubt again have high expectations for NBL25. But any talk of back-to-back … well, that’s not something Roth is even pondering right now. 

"We won't have any of those conversations, because we're not going to talk about the championship," he added.

"We're just going to go back to our process of what we've been doing and we're not going to really reflect too much about that.

"Whether we repeat or not, is irrelevant."

Read the full story >> Roth backs Moneyball approach as JackJumpers face loss of second star