Grit and grind continues to define Jackies

Scott Roth liked how David Johnson bounced back, is high on the Tassie toughness of Taran Armstrong and liked the grit and grind of the Tasmania JackJumpers along with paying tribute to former player Reuben Te Rangi.

The JackJumpers came into Round 5 of NBL27 in top spot but conceded that following Friday night's defeat at MyState Bank Arena to Bryce Cotton and the Adelaide 36ers.

They had less than 48 hours to be back in action at home again on Sunday afternoon hosting the New Zealand Breakers, and went on to secure the 98-92 victory to improve to a 5-2 record and reclaim top spot as a result.

There's no time to catch their breath, though, with another home game to come on Wednesday night in an Ignite Cup match up against the Brisbane Bullets back at MyState Bank Arena.

Speaking after the win against New Zealand, Roth was proud of the effort from his team where they prevailed on the back of putting up an extra 10 shots, 15 more free throws and having 19 offensive rebounds to nine, and just 10 turnovers to 18.

"The turnaround is obviously difficult to regroup and then this was an afternoon game so I just congratulated our guys for a grit and grind kind of deal," Roth said.

"The last four or five minutes is where we sit a lot of times and we have to execute and be smart enough to find things that will work for us, and take care of the basketball and do the little things.

"We found a way in that last four or five minutes even though they did a hell of a job throughout the entire game, but I'm really proud of our guys for coming back from a tough, grindy game literally less than 48 hours ago."

Taran Armstrong had another standout performance in Sunday's win against the Breakers getting to the 30-point barrier for the first time in the NBL and finishing with 32 points along with six rebounds, three assists and three steals on 9/14 shooting and going 12/14 at the free-throw line.

Roth always knew that the JackJumpers were getting someone special by bringing him back home to Tasmania, but he's been blown away by the toughness and competitiveness of Armstrong.

"He's Tassie tough and he's born and raised here, and he just understands the mentality of being on this island from how he was raised," Roth said.

"That fits in seamlessly with our culture that's here and that's one of the reasons why he came back.

"I also have to credit the coaches and I'm lucky enough to stand in front of our guys, but ultimately they've been the machine that drives this thing and the development and time they spend with these guys to improve their game.

"We've had a great track record and find these kinda guys that want to come here and do the work, and then you have someone like Taran who's really talented and wants to grind and do the work too. He's elevating his game and the sky's the limit for him."

Without Majok Deng, Ben Ayre and Bryce Hamilton currently in the JackJumpers line-up, there's a lot of responsibility as a scorer on the shoulders of David Johnson.

He has shown he can be a match winner including 32 points in 18 minutes against the Illawarra Hawks but then the next game he had just four against the 36ers on Friday night.

Roth never had any doubt he would bounce back, and he did, finishing with 20 points on 10/17 shooting against the Breakers, but the coach will always be pushing him to iron out some of the more frustrating parts of his game because of how good he can be.

"We're not ever going to go away from him because he's just too talented and he just has to find his consistency, and stay on the floor longer without getting into foul trouble and doing some bonehead things at times that takes himself out of the game," Roth said.

"He's capable of doing what he does like tonight on a regular basis and he impacts the games in a lot of different ways, he just has to figure how to stay on the floor and do a little better job on the defensive end of the floor because his offensive skill set is really, really good.

"I'm happy for him to bounce back from not a great performance against Adelaide and I know he took very personal so to come back and do what he did was fantastic."

Two aspects of the JackJumpers culture that has been built that Roth has been most proud of is that once you play for the club, you are a JackJumper for life, and then the opportunities that are given to players that others have discarded.

Reuben Te Rangi fits into both those categories and he joined the JackJumpers for NBL25 when no other club had signed him and there was a spot spare following the departure of Jack McVeigh on the eve of the season.

Similar to Majok Deng prior to that and now Kody Stattmann or Ben Ayre since, Roth couldn’t believe his luck that Te Rangi was still available and couldn’t have been happier to have him on board for that whole season.

He's also happy to see him thriving back home at the Breakers after his return to Hobart for Sunday's game and now takes a great deal of pride in Te Rangi for seeing him about to reach his 400th NBL game this Sunday.

"Reuben is another great example of someone we signed two years when no one wanted him, and we were desperate to find a player at that point and no one had signed him. He came in and we started him, and now he gets a three-year contract in New Zealand," Roth said.

"The first thing Gordie (Herbert, Breakers coach) said to me when I saw him was that he loved Reuben and I told him that there's no doubt about it, he's a tremendous kid and Gordie said he had spoke very highly about being here with us.

"And he was dynamite with us and it was only for a year, but his impact and his professionalism and his family being here, was a wonderful thing for us.

"He was in the abyss there for a bit not having a job and for us to throw a lifeline to him, and him create another pathway with his work ethic to start with us and now have a three-year deal to go back home to New Zealand is a mini story that we're quite proud of.

"It goes back to our coaches and their work rate, but he's a hell of a kid."