JackJumpers strike gold with Marshall

Scott Roth thought he'd struck gold when signing Nick Marshall because of his vast offensive talent which he showed in the Teal Game on Friday but it's his dedication to improve defensively that has the Tasmania JackJumpers coach most in awe.

When Roth recruited Marshall to the JackJumpers for NBL26, he heard the knock on him was at the defensive end, but what has happened since his arrival in Tasmania has been an unmatched commitment from him to improve at that end.

As a result, Roth has regularly given him the biggest defensive assignments night after night. It's been a sharp learning curve and now his offensive game is shining as highlighted by what he did in Friday's record 114-70 win at MyState Bank Arena over the Brisbane Bullets.

Marshall was instrumental in Tasmania recording a biggest ever NBL win and putting up their highest ever score by having a career-best 31 points on 12/13 field goal shooting and 7/8 from three-point range.

That included 17 points without missing a shot in the first quarter alone as the JackJumpers took a giant step towards locking in sixth position.

Roth couldn’t be prouder of Marshall's growth this season.

"He was a player that got cast aside a bit by some teams and he fell right into our lap, and we were excited when he was available and we felt that he was going to be really good," Roth said.

"We knew we had to fix some of the defensive issues that he's had in the past but now it's actually the opposite and we put him on the best players to try and defend, and his whole game has morphed into something that is really pleasant for us and we're excited about it.

"His work rate's incredible and he has really grown obviously in our system, and our coaches have done a wonderful job with him and he came in kinda like this bit of an unknown.

"We thought we had struck gold actually with what he could morph into and he's exceeded expectations with where he's at right now with what he's been doing.

"He's the perfect example of a guy who's grinding away and getting better every single week."

Marshall gives a lot of credit to the faith that Roth has put in him to give him to the biggest defensive assignments throughout the season.

Sometimes there's no better way to learn and grow than by being thrown in the deep end, and in turn it's helped Marshall have the confidence to just go out and show his offensive talents.

"Obviously I have to watch a lot of film of these guys so being able to just take that and then play my game with what l learn from watching them, and then guarding them," Marshall said.

"I believe I can score out there kinda whenever I want, it's just playing the right way, making the right reads and if two people get on me, I'll be making the right pass and it's really at the defensive end I've been focusing on.

"That's allowed me to now get these opportunities, and it felt pretty good tonight obviously, I didn't miss too many shots which was nice and it was even nicer to get the win."

The JackJumpers moved further clear in sixth position in Friday night's record 44-point victory to not only get the crucial win in that column, but also move further ahead of both the Illawarra Hawks and New Zealand Breakers with the points differential.

The JackJumpers would now need a minor disaster to not end up finishing sixth with just two games remaining next Saturday away to the South East Melbourne Phoenix and then at home to the Hawks the following Wednesday.

Even with Will Magnay, Ben Ayre, Bryce Hamilton and Sean Macdonald done for the season, Marshall has full confidence in the JackJumpers' to do some damage in the finals too.

"I definitely believe we can beat anybody when we play our best basketball," Marshall said.

"So yes, I believe we can go big and make a run in the playoffs."

Friday night was also Marshall's first chance to be part of the Teal Game for the JackJumpers in memory of Jo Harris and to raise funds and awareness for the SHE Gynaecological Cancer Group.

Marshall was just proud that the team was able to produce such a good performance for such a worthwhile cause and to celebrate with the Harris family.

"It was super special and it was cool to have them in the locker room after the game too," Marshall said.

"We were just happy to get the win for them tonight and that we were able to raise some money for the SHE Foundation."