"No fear factor": JackJumpers embrace Finals challenge

With the Tasmania JackJumpers finishing sixth and being down on troops, many pundits have written them off before the NBL26 Finals have even started.

But staying true to form, that doesn’t faze the JackJumpers and especially not head coach Scott Roth.

“We have a free swing and there's no fear factor or anything from us,” Roth said during the special Finals Launch NBL Now episode.

“There's no failure on our part in this game, whether we win by a few or lose by 30. It doesn't really matter.

“We're going to put our best foot forward and defend the island.”

In the game Roth touches on, his JackJumpers will travel to John Cain Arena to face old nemesis, Melbourne United.

“I think we're built for this [situation], but I think it's more about just enjoying this,” Roth said.

“We have nothing to lose and what a story that will be written if we actually get this game across the line.”

Roth’s side will go into Wednesday, March 4’s Play-In Qualifier without the likes of Will Magnay, Bryce Hamilton and Sean Macdonald, with the coach admitting his team might have just ‘eight players’ for the fixture.

As such, in a way to prevent the chance of more injuries, Roth has changed up his training schedule.

“Sunday we were on the beach and that was more of a military kind of thing of rope, sand, sandbags,” he said.

“We're trying to obviously keep them in shape without contact.”

While he won’t be part of their Finals campaign, JackJumpers star Hamilton, who was named to the All-NBL Second Team, was a big part of the team’s success this season.

With that in mind, Roth explained how he hopes to see Hamilton in a JackJumpers uniform once again in the future.

“I'm obviously extremely excited about his future with us and we're going to try to get him back for a few years and that's our goal,” he said.

The JackJumpers face United in their elimination Play-In Qualifier on Thursday, March 5 from 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.