D is key as JackJumpers look for first win

A turnaround in defensive form is priority one for the Tasmania JackJumpers, according to Jarred Bairstow, with the forward saying the blame for the poor start to the season is "100 per cent" on the playing group.

The JackJumpers have started their season with two straight losses in round one, and with another double-header approaching in round two against New Zealand and Brisbane, the task to get onto the winners’ list doesn’t get any easier this weekend.

After losing by just five points to South East Melbourne in the season’s opening game, the JackJumpers fell to a 22-point loss against a sharpshooting Cairns team on Monday night.

“We just need to lock in on the details on defence,” Bairstow said. “The last two games there’s been nothing crazy the opposition has done we weren’t prepared for, we just weren’t on point with the details of what we wanted to do.

“We haven’t been on point with some of our rotations and having each-others’ back in certain things. For whatever reason that is we have to fix that as of today.

“It’s 100 per cent about defence. When you let a team score 106 on you there’s nothing else to talk about. You’re not going to win games if you have 106 scored on you so the defensive end is where the issues are.”

The JackJumpers will be the first NBL team to play away in New Zealand in 489 days this weekend, with the Breakers set to host their first home game since the beginning of the Covid pandemic.

They’ve played 29 straight games on the road with their most recent home fixture coming on June 5, 2021 - a five-point loss to the Phoenix. As has been messaged by New Zealand all pre-season, there’s no more excuses this campaign.

Bairstow says his side have shoved last weekend’s games to the back of their minds in preparing for their upcoming clashes.

“Obviously nobody wants to start off with two losses, but it’s onto the next job and we’ve got to focus on the next game,” he said.

“It’s a pretty quick turnaround for us, and it’s a quick turnaround again after New Zealand. We’ve got to move on, and we’ve got to get the next job done.

“That [Breakers] crowd is going to be jumping after they haven’t played there for almost two years. We have no doubts the place is going to be going off, so we have to not give the crowd anything the get hyped about.

“We have to come in on point from the start and not let them get away.”