Top of the ladder? JackJumpers coach isn’t looking

The Tasmania JackJumpers sit comfortably on top of the Hungry Jack’s NBL27 ladder with a 6-2 record.

That record was capped by a convincing Ignite Cup win over Brisbane on Wednesday, in which the Ants secured the maximum seven points for the in-season tournament.

The victory was their second straight and closed out a hectic stretch of three games in six days.

Reflecting on that run, Tasmania coach Scott Roth said he was proud of his side’s resilience.

“The big picture for us was the three games in six days,” Roth said.

“Really, that was what we were trying to solve, and be competitive in all three games and have chances to win in all three games and stay healthy.

“I’m not overly happy that we lost one here at home [to Adelaide], but we showed up and competed all three nights, which is great.

“I don’t care where you play in the world, you play three games in six days, it’s a difficult road.”

The catalyst for Wednesday’s 21-point win was the JackJumpers’ ball movement, with a season-high 28 assists from 38 made field goals.

“We talk about the ball moving. 28 assists, which is an extremely high number for us,” Roth added.

“That means the ball is touching a lot of hands.

“We’re not star-oriented with having one player that’s kind of dominating the ball, and our guys share the ball quite well.”

The NBL24 championship-winning coach also played down the MVP talk surrounding club captain Will Magnay.

“That’s just chatter,” he said.

“It’s just white noise at the end of the day and it’s so early in the season.

“This is a marathon, it’s not a sprint, and that’s just for people to write and drum up clicks.”

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The JackJumpers now have more than a week off before they host Sydney at the Silverdome on Friday, October 30.

Rather than getting ahead of themselves as ladder leaders, the Ants will keep grinding and doing it the ‘Jackie Way’.

“We are very much process-driven,” Roth said.

“It is day-to-day stuff, there’s no worrying about the destination.

“They know very well I don’t look at the ladder.

“I don’t care about the ladder until the last game or two of the season.

“If you’re trying to skip steps or look down the road, you’re messing with the basketball gods in my opinion.”

Tasmania’s Round 7 clash with Sydney tips off at 7.30pm AEDT on Friday, October 30, live on ESPN.