Roth demands aggression, Johnson delivers

Scott Roth’s push for David Johnson to be more aggressive paid off in emphatic fashion, as the Tasmania JackJumpers guard turned match-winner in the space of just three minutes in Cairns.

Johnson had missed two months with a calf injury after featuring in the opening two games of the NBL season, and his return was initially a slow burn. Across his first three games back, he managed 28 points in 80 minutes, on just 29 shot attempts.

Against the Taipans, he had only two points with four minutes remaining, before flipping the script spectacularly. Johnson exploded for 11 points in three-and-a-half minutes, drilling two three-pointers and completing a three-point play with a strong attack to the basket.

It was the exact type of performance Roth knew was coming, and one he has been trying to unlock since Johnson’s return.

"I've pushed him relentlessly in the last few weeks once he got back healthy and he's had a hard road to sit there and watch for eight and nine weeks before getting his time to go play," Roth said.

"We need him and he's an impact player, and super, super-skilled who can do a lot of things for us and tonight was a very good sign of what he's capable of doing."

Saturday’s game was hanging in the balance with four minutes to play, Tasmania clinging to a slim two-point lead. That was the moment Roth delivered a clear message to Johnson: 'stop being unselfish'.

Johnson had been doing all the right team things and was solid defensively, but he wasn’t looking to score. Roth wanted that mindset to change, and the response was immediate.

"I just told him basically to keep your eyes on the rim and to stop passing the ball as much," Roth said.

"I want him to keep his eyes on the rim, because he's here to shoot the ball and score for us, and he's quite unselfish, but I wanted to make sure that he kept his eyes on the rim and in that last three minutes things opened up, and he took the shots he should have took which is a very good sign for us."

Johnson didn’t want to go into detail about what Roth was telling him late in the game, but the message clearly landed. He now hopes to take confidence from the performance into the rest of the season.

"It does (give me confidence) but it doesn’t really change how I'm going to approach every game," Johnson said.

"This just happened to be my night but I'll continue to prepare the same way that I do and do everything that we do collectively as a group, and I'll be fine and so will we."