Still swinging: JackJumpers’ Finals push defined by grit

Missing four key pieces, the Tasmania JackJumpers are still playing with the trademark fight that has defined their NBL journey.

Even with two games in hand over the chasing pack, the JackJumpers now face a steep climb toward the Finals, with Will Magnay (toe), Bryce Hamilton (ACL), Majok Deng (concussion) and Sean Macdonald (knee) all sidelined.

It has been a recurring theme all season, with Tasmania rarely able to put its full roster on the floor.

That mounting injury toll showed on Saturday night, as the JackJumpers were eventually overrun by a healthy and deep Illawarra lineup.

But their coach could not have been prouder of the way they battled through to the final buzzer.

“I’ve got nothing but love for what they did today,” Roth said. “They played as hard as they possibly could.

“Listen, it’s been an emotional 48 hours for this group. Obviously starting with Will Magnay and a crushing blow to him, and then we move into Majok hitting his head in the first 30 seconds of (the last) game, and that really shook a lot of us until we got to half-time to regroup.

“Then we get the news late last night about Bryce. So it’s been quite an emotional rollercoaster with these guys. But they just keep showing up and doing the right thing.

“I was lucky enough when I started this franchise to build it, hopefully in a way that would weather a time like it is right now for us.

“The culture and the standards are the standards, and that’s what we’ll fall back onto. It might not be pretty, but our guys will show up, do the right thing across the board, compete, and that’s why we have our culture. That’s why we built it … for being in a storm.”

The JackJumpers leaned heavily on emerging talent, with Archie Woodhill, just 23 games into his NBL career getting a start, while Nicholas Stoddart (25 games) and Ryley Haywood also played minutes in a nine-man rotation.

“Everyone that got on the floor did something for us,” Roth said.

“(Josh Bannan)’s been a monster for us all year, and obviously we’re going to need a lot out of him over the next six games … not more, but just his competitive level.”

Roth praised Nick Marshall and David Johnson, but said the JackJumpers would be watching the former’s fitness closely.

“It’s contagious. Nick Marshall got hit in the ribs, so we’ll see how he goes.

“He got a shot. I don’t know if it was a hip pointer or a rib, to be quite honest.”

In the wider Finals picture, New Zealand is next in line but battling injuries, while the Hawks sit three wins back with games in hand.

For Roth, the immediate focus lies well away from Finals talk.

“We’re going to take these two days off and reset, regroup, and let our guys emotionally detach for a minute,” he said.

“Then we’ll do what we need to do to finish off these six games. The crazy thing is we’re still on sixth.”