Bench makes mark in JackJumpers big win

The depth of the Tasmania JackJumpers playing squad was proven on Sunday with all 13 players taking the court for the first time in the club’s history.

While the JackJumpers starting five remained unchanged from the thrilling win against Adelaide 36ers 48 hours earlier, the talent of the bench was on show as the JackJumpers romped to a 24-point victory over the Breakers.

Backcourt import duo Josh Magette and Josh Adams were instrumental in the historic victory, with Magette picking up where he left off from Friday night.s win, notching up 22 points and eight assists.

While Jack McVeigh also found his range early.  

“He’s one of our best shooters, if not our best shooter and we need to get him shots – 8, 10, 12 shots a game” Head Coach Scott Roth said.

One of the team’s self-proclaimed ‘energy guys’, McVeigh lifted the side and set the tone from the first quarter, finishing with 17 points, shooting at 70% from the field.

“He’s really bought into what we’re trying to do with his game. It’s the first time he’s played in that forward spot. When he makes shots, the floor really opens up for Magnay and everyone else.”

Development Player Sean Macdonald made his NBL debut off the bench after impressing Roth with his tenacity and basketball intelligence.

He troubled the scorers late in the 4^th quarter, as did Russian Next Star Nikita Mikhailovskii as he recorded his first points as a JackJumper with a simple lay up off a back door cut.

“Everyone who came off the bench played really well. JB [Jarred Bairstow] in his 50^th game and Weeksy (Jarrad Weeks) in his 200^th game were fantastic so kudos to all those guys” Roth said.

Bairstow celebrated the milestone on home turf at MyState Bank Arena, despite the game being classified as a Breakers home game.

“Technically the first away win in club history, albeit with a big asterisk next to it [laughs]. It was obviously nice to play at home, the crowd was into it. You do feel for New Zealand having to be in this situation but they’ve handled it well” Bairstow said.

“I think it’s underestimated how hard it is to piece together 15 brand new players and just say ‘off you go’. Having the same coaches and players year on year builds chemistry, but we don’t have that history so we’ll get there and these two wins are another step in building that culture”.

The JackJumpers will be looking to make it three in a row with a tough test against Sydney Kings on Friday night at MyState Bank Arena.

“For me, it’s about doing the work, going through the process and not skipping steps. These guys are gritty and relentless. They come every day to work, to compete, they have a great culture that we’ve been building. We’ll keep going through those processes to prepare [for the Kings] and tweak things to keep getting better” Roth said.

“We’re going to have a lot of bumps in the road but we’ll keep working and we’re going to cherish these two wins we’ve had this weekend.”