JackJumpers reward home fans for loyalty

The support from the whole state no matter the results is why Scott Roth is so proud of what the Tasmania JackJumpers have created, and why it is then extra special to enjoy a win with them like they did on Sunday.

Even though the JackJumpers had lost their past six matches when they were back at MyState Bank Arena to take on the Sydney Kings on Sunday, Roth couldn’t help but feel his usual sense of pride when he walked into a building full of passionate Tasmanian fans.

Although the JackJumpers had lost five of the six games in the building so far this season too, it was still full and they were still right behind their team and despite the short turnaround from Perth on Friday, they saw their team put in a dominant showing to win 104-81.

There was a lot to like in the performance including the impact Will Magnay and David Johnson had with their returns this weekend, and Josh Bannan continuing his career-best form along with Ben Ayre starring ahead of his Boomers debut.

But what made Roth most chuffed about was to see the support they received and how unconditional it is from the Tasmanian public.

"It's always great to be back in this building and the first thing I do when I walk in every single time is I look in all four corners and there's people sitting in them," Roth said.

"You lose six games and you look up there, and the place is sold out again as it always has been, and the fans are always just all about it.

"Ultimately for us, winning is obviously hugely important for the organisation and the appearance of what we do, but the fans just love our players and how they go about their work.

"Staying after these games whether we've won or lost and signing autographs, and doing all these other things that a lot of other teams just don't do is why they've endeared themselves to this state.

"That's why we Defend the Island because it's about showing up and putting our best foot forward.

"We can't always win a championship or play the best that we possibly can, but we can sure show up and live to our standards of what has been established here. We'll continue to do that in the good and the bad."

As for the game itself, it was a mighty impressive performance from the JackJumpers considering they had lost six straight and were coming back from Perth up against a Kings outfit having not played in a week and having won four in-a-row.

But the JackJumpers were on song right from the get go and offered a glimpse of what they are capable of while getting closer to full strength with only Anthony Drmic and Kobe Williamson unavailable.

"This one game didn’t solve everything but it at least gives you a glimpse of what we thought the roster might look like moving into the season," Roth said.

"We'll just take it and build off the last few games actually where we've had really good moments, but had lapses in between and this game actually was hard to play with a 20-point lead coming into that second half.

"It's always hard to do that against a team that was sitting here waiting for us, but it's just a good way to go into the break for us."

The signs were encouraging too with David Johnson's successful return in Perth and then backing it up on Sunday in Hobart after his calf injury with him delivering 15 points and five assists in the win against the Kings.

Captain Will Magnay was also back against Sydney with the JackJumpers +29 in the 21 minutes that he played for eight points and seven rebounds with Roth delighted to have both back.

"To have DJ play a back-to-back game also coming off the type of injury he had can be cause some scary thoughts to go through your mind, but again he did well and he's a week or two away from really getting a rhythm of really opening up the floor for us," Roth said.

"It was just more about his pain tolerance and if the swelling went down with the bruise, and over the last two days when we weren’t here he made progress and the doctor left it up to him if he could play or not.

"We were cautious to keep him at around 20 minutes and moving him in and out of there as best we can, but he was quite lively and bouncy which was a good sign. He'll now need a bit more rest this week to continue to recover from that but it was a very positive sign."

The other thing to warm Roth's heart on Sunday was that Drmic's back was feeling good enough for him to join his teammates in the locker room and on the bench for the game.

"It was also nice that for the first time in I don’t know how long that we actually had our entire roster in the building," Roth said.

"We had Drmic finally back in the building and he's an energy giver that we've been missing so to have him back in the building, and everyone back in that locker room for the first time in a long time was really, really nice."