Jook shining as JackJumpers earn their way

The Tasmania JackJumpers have won an NBL title and been to two Championship Series, but making the NBL26 finals has coach Scott Roth rightfully beaming and especially with the way Majok Deng is leading from the front.

In the absence of Will Magnay, Deng has had to play an even more important role for the JackJumpers moving into the starting five position, and also coming off his own scare with a concussion that happened in a nasty fall in the opening minute against the Sydney Kings.

He did miss the next game against Illawarra but since then has been brilliant and exploded against the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Saturday with 20 points in the first quarter alone with 5/5 field goal shooting including 3/3 from downtown and then 7/7 at the free-throw line.

Deng then went on finish the game with 36 points, nine rebounds and three assists for the best scoring performance of his 280-game NBL career

But for Roth, his admiration of him is way beyond what he brings on the court.

"My relationship with Jook is quite special and he's one of my favourites of all-time that I've ever been around and that includes NBA players that I've been lucky enough to coach," Roth said.

"His story of where he's come from and what he's gone through, and the man that he is off the floor, and if you saw him around Tasmania he's the Pied Piper of kids, man.

"He's a father figure that everyone should follow and the kids love him, he's a great family man and he's one of my favourites.

"So to see him have success and playing in our environment, and remember that three years ago no one wanted him, and to do what he's done with us and win a championship with us, it's a hell of a story."

The JackJumpers made a stirring run to a Championship Series in their inaugural season, put in a tremendous effort to make it again to the semi finals in NBL23, and then made history of course in NBL24 with the remarkable championship triumph.

They then only narrowly missed making the top six last season despite plenty working against them, and now in NBL26 with one game to go they are guaranteed of a finals appearance despite the loss of Sean Macdonald, Ben Ayre, Bryce Hamilton and Magnay.

Roth has made it a mission right from when he got the job as JackJumpers coach to build a culture where nobody makes excuses and everybody just gives 100 per cent effort to represent the state of Tasmania no matter how challenging the obstacles might be in their way.

Recruiting players capable of living up to that mantra has then been a focus too and this playing group of NBL26 is one he continues to be tremendously proud of for how they have earned their way into the finals guaranteed of finishing sixth before hosting the Illawarra Hawks on Wednesday.

"We've had a hell of a month and these guys just continue to just keep fighting and showing up, and they earned their way through," Roth said.

"That's four times in five years for this franchise to be in the playoffs and last year we missed out on percentage points so with the adversity they went through the last month, it's a credit to those guys.

"At the end of the day, the fight from them has been really good and I congratulate them and we're on the way to recovering and trying to get the win again on Wednesday."

Given the JackJumpers lost Magnay (toe), Ayre (osteitis pubis) and Hamilton (knee) to season-ending injuries all in the last month, it would have been easy for a team with less character to think it was all too hard.

That's not the JackJumpers way, though, and they have still managed crucial wins over the New Zealand Breakers and Brisbane Bullets to lock away that finals place, and avoided being blown out by any opponents too.

The biggest loss the JackJumpers have suffered since the injury blows was the 16 points against South East Melbourne on Saturday night, but even then they fought valiantly and scored 104 points themselves including 36 from Majok Deng.

"You're paid to play this game and you're paid to do the right things and in our environment, the accountability is real and our guys show up continually," Roth said.

"This could have been a 45-point loss quite easily and I think a few times would have just said the hell with it and been done, but our guys kept it 10, 12 and 14 points and they just kept fighting which was a really good sign from them again."

The JackJumpers lost Macdonald before the start of the season and were able to find Tyger Campbell to somewhat replacement him, but there has been no such luxury with the loss of Magnay, Ayre and Hamilton given how late into the campaign they were hurt.

What that means is that Roth will continue to provide opportunities in a next man up mentality with Nick Marshall the shining example of that who has to have put himself right in the Most Improved Player mix right across the league.

There's more opportunities for others too, though, including back court pair Nick Stoddart and Brody Nunn.

"We're missing four players and three of them are quite critical so it is what it is at the end of the day, and it's an opportunity, and when you have injuries that's exactly what ends up happening," Roth said.

"Players become players in those moments and Nick Marshall's a perfect example of a guy we've brought in that might have been off the bench playing 15 minutes a game, but  DJ misses 10 weeks and next thing you know we have to start him and now we can't get him out of the line-up.

"His growth has been incredible so when the doors open in these situations when teams have injuries and you can step through and earn your way onto the floor, that's what it's all about and we have a lot of guys who are trying to do that.

"Then guys like (Nunn and Stoddart) have to get out there and play, and the leash is not very long for them and the pace and speed of the game in an environment like this is a really hard to play in when you're a young player.

"But every minute they get on the floor they have to treat them like life and death minutes, and they have to acquire the mentality that they're half out of the NBL and not half in, and try to establish themselves each time they step out there."

The JackJumpers might be locked into sixth position no matter the result of Wednesday's game against the Hawks at MyState Bank Arena, but they will still be giving it everything as if their lives were depending on it.

After all, there will be four thousand Tasmanians in the building expecting nothing less of them but also, given there will be two weeks until the finals start afterwards, there'll be no need for Roth to need to even thinking of trying to keep anyone fresh.

"We've put some home games together finally of winning those at home which we were very, very poor at in the first two months of the season," Roth said.

"So to finish our last regular season game at home in front of that crowd that we love to death who keep showing up for us, we're going to give it a hell of a swing on Wednesday to get that one across the line, and knock on wood we stay as healthy as we possibly can without someone doing something crazy."