Bannan steps up as JackJumpers keep fighting

It's always frustrating to lose and especially with an exhausted team right now, but coach Scott Roth loves the Tasmania JackJumpers fight and the way Josh Bannan fired for 17 points in the fourth quarter on New Year's Eve.

Back on Monday night when the JackJumpers beat the South East Melbourne Phoenix at MyState Bank Arena, it was Majok Deng who came up huge with 21 points and to be instrumental in that victory.

The beauty of the JackJumpers front court, though, is that Deng, Bannan and captain Will Magnay are all somewhat interchangeable and between the three of them, Roth knows that it can be a match-winning night for any of them.

On New Year's Eve, Bannan was having a quiet start to the game once again against the Illawarra Hawks and as a result Roth didn’t have him out there for the second half.

It sure lit a fire under him because all of a sudden he exploded for 17 points in the fourth quarter alone for the best 10 minutes of basketball he's played in the NBL.

He finished the game with 25 points on 11/14 field goal shooting with six rebounds and two assists with Roth happy to see him step up like he did despite the eventual two-point defeat.

"I think he got some better opportunities and he was playing with much more force, and really attacking the rim and him not starting in the second half was a little bit of a motivator for him too," Roth said.

"He was quite aggressive in getting downhill and getting to the rim to his spots, and when he's in that kind of mode obviously he's a handful.

"He was obviously very good and it was his moment, and the other night wasn’t his moment and it was for Majok Deng.

"That's the luxury of having those type of players and he was really, really good for us."

Even while playing a fifth game in 11 days and playing catch up for a lot of the game on New Year's Eve against the Hawks, the JackJumpers never stopped fighting.

With Bannan scoring those 17 points in the fourth quarter, Tasmania did draw back level with 4:18 left on the clock and then even had a chance right at the death with David Johnson's attempted game winning three and then Bryce Hamilton's layup a split second late from forcing overtime.

Roth would never question his team's fighting spirit and was proud of his players again afterwards.

"We played our arse off and played as hard as we possibly can, that's what we do every single night so it's all good by me," Roth said.

"We keep showing up and are in the fight, and it's really, really pleasing even though it's frustrating too obviously, but the fight's real with us and we swung and might not have executed quite as well in some situations and missed a bunch of foul shots.

"But ultimately they keep competing which is fantastic in this short amount of time with all these games we've got coming our way."

As for where that fighting spirit for the JackJumpers comes from, it's been what the team has built their foundation on from the very start and if Roth demands anything from his players, it's to make sure they represent the state of Tasmania with pride at all moments.

"It just goes back to defending the island and what we represent to the state, and what the importance is, and it's something that i might harp on too much but I talk to our players about it every single day," Roth said.

"We talk about representing the people of Tasmania and what they expect from us and we're not going to get over the line every night, but the fight's gotta be real and it's an island with a lot of tough minded people down there.

"They expect tough minded players out there constantly battling for them and I think our players really understand that, and also just represent themselves well."

Following that New Year's Eve game in Wollongong, the JackJumpers had played five games in the space in 11 days and now the grind continues with another match at home to come this Saturday night against Melbourne United.

That will make it six games in 14 days and while there's no JackJumpers players who have picked up an injury that will sideline them, there are plenty of sore bodies.

There will be the boost of the return of 270-game championship winner Anthony Drmic on Saturday night too with Roth certainly not looking for excuses or for his players to do anything but hold their heads high.

"We're JackJumpers my friend, we walk into buildings and walk out of buildings no matter what," Roth said.

"We have two or three guys with some small injuries that will need a couple of days rest, but we have no time because we travel back home, we have video the next day and then we play United.

"So the grind is real and we can't do anything about it, and I feel it's unfortunate as a player in this league that you're put in this position to play that many games in a short amount of time without the luxury of what NBA players get to do.

"It's quite stressful and all the teams will go through some patch of this in the coming weeks with a bunch of games on their doorstep, and we're just getting to the end of our one and fatigue is just one of those things you have to fight through.