Diligent off-season already paying off for DJ

If David Johnson was to come back for a second NBL season at the Tasmania JackJumpers, coach Scott Roth challenged him to transform himself in the off-season, and one game into NBL27, and that has clearly paid dividends.

It turned out to be a memorable way to start the new season for the JackJumpers coming back from a 16-point deficit to outscore the South East Melbourne Phoenix 58-39 after half-time for the eventual five-point victory.

Making it all the more impressive was they did it without Josh Bannan, Ben Ayre, Bryce Hamilton and Anthony Drmic, and Johnson feels it's the sort of performance that can now be built upon heading into Wednesday night in Cairns.

"I think it's huge considering what we've kinda gone through behind the scenes with players going down early on," Johnson said.

"You kinda learn a little bit about yourself when that happens as well and it makes you excited because you know we're missing. We're using this to get our feet wet a little bit and keep on pushing."

Johnson had a good first season with the JackJumpers in NBL26 producing 12.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists on 32 per cent three-point shooting.

He had some standout moments too especially late in the piece when he had to step up after Bryce Hamilton's knee injury, but for him to come back, he was challenged by Roth to transform himself in the off-season.

Johnson got to work in the NBL off-season, got himself into the best shape of his life and one game into NBL27, it's already paying off after a standout showing in Monday night's home win for the JackJumpers against the Phoenix.

The 25-year-old delivered 26 points, six rebounds and six assists on 10/15 field goal shooting including 12 of his team's 36 points in the third quarter where they stormed back into the contest.

Roth now only expects him to continue to reap the rewards for the work he's put in leading into NBL27.

"We asked a lot from him this summer to come back and his skill level is undeniable so we really emphasised the three months that he was at home to change his body," Roth said.

"And he came back 15 pounds lighter and kind of rebuilt himself and rebuilt his diet, and was really all-in.

"I think he'll reap the rewards over the course of this season but a lot of hard work for him in the off-season got him here and not a lot of players have the diligence to go through that for that long.

"He's done a remarkable job physically coming back the way he is and we're quite proud of him."

Coming to the NBL last season was Johnson's first taste of playing internationally having played all his basketball in the G League along with a stint in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors who drafted him back in 2021 out of the University of Louisville.

He enjoyed the experience with the JackJumpers enough to come back, but he heeded Roth's advice and got down to work on his own mini season while back home to make sure he came back a transformed athlete.

"I had a mini season in my off-season as well for myself," Johnson said.

"I think mostly for me this off-season was a mentality shift and it was physical too, but it was about that mentality of going to work every day because that's what the season is going to hold."

As for the opening game of the season on Monday night, it wasn’t the first half the JackJumpers were hoping for finding themselves down by as much as 16 to the Phoenix and still by 14 at the major break.

But they came out firing with a 23-9 run to start the second half with Johnson scoring 12 of those points in that stretch and the key for him was just being more aggressive.

"I was just trying to stay aggressive and playing off of my teammates, and just playing with the flow of the game and taking advantages of the opportunities that were provided," Johnson said.

"It wasn’t necessarily a change we made in the second half, it was just me taking better advantage of the opportunity if they're going to press up on the floor on me.

"I was going to use my speed and sometimes that might be making the right read or getting all the way to the rim, and tonight it was me getting to the basket."

Johnson was far from the only standout in the win for Tasmania in the season-opener and two new faces were particularly impressive.

Import sharpshooter Dakota Mathias showed how lethal he can be hitting 3/5 from the outside for 14 points while rookie big man Ben Gold impressed stepping up in the absence of Bannan for five points, four rebounds and three blocks.

Johnson was suitably impressed with both of them too.

"He's great and he's going to continue to be himself, and it's the first time I've played with a specialist like him," Johnson said.

"He's going to space the floor and does a lot of great things, and it was good to see him get going in front of this home crowd as well.

"It was great seeing what he did out there and I think him having Will at practice who is someone who can vocally and visually show him things that he can improve on throughout the year will be great for him."