Magnay shows his commitment to JackJumpers

Will Magnay showed just what the Tasmania JackJumpers mean to him in his 100th appearance in a powerful performance in the win over Melbourne United while declaring afterwards, he'll never play for another NBL team.

As Magnay now prepares to return home to take on the Brisbane Bullets on Saturday night, the second-year JackJumpers captain and NBL24 championship winning centre has made his home in Tasmania and that's not going to change.

It's not just words either, Magnay's performance on the floor spoke for itself on Thursday night. He puts his body on the line all evening in the eventual 84-82 victory in what was quite the physical and eventful contest as they always are between the two teams.

Magnay made six clutch free throws and had two massive blocks in the fourth quarter alone to finish his 100th JackJumpers match with 17 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocks on 12/14 free-throw shooting.

He even knocked down his first three-pointer after his first attempt of the season which just happened to be his first make from outside since January 3 this year against Melbourne as well.

It did provide the Paris Olympian a chance to reflect on how thankful he is with the home he's found at the JackJumpers.

"It's been an interesting one and I guess the only thing that's been steady in it is this club and the people around," Magnay said.

"I wouldn’t be where I am without Rat and Weeksy and Nate and Scott obviously, but you break your foot two years in a row and club says, here's a contract.

"They wanted me back, and the belief they have in me to get back and to grow and be a big part of the team is huge.

"I'm forever grateful for every opportunity I've had here and every teammate I've had so far, we have a no dickhead policy pretty much coming in, and I'm so grateful.

"I just love coming to work and that'll never change here, and I'll never play anywhere else in the NBL. This is my home and this is my club, and if I'm ever anywhere else that'll be overseas.

"But I've loved every moment and every challenge of being here so I'm super grateful through the ups and downs, but I just plant my feet and be grateful that I can be out there to run around."

Ask any player about their milestone game and they always say that the only thing that matters or that they will remember about it is if they got to celebrate it with a win or not.

There was a lot that went on in that game between the JackJumpers and United on Thursday night, but ultimately Tasmania did get the win and Magnay played a big part in that, but he's not in reflection mode just yet.

"I'm happy that I got a win on my 100th too which is always a little bit extra nice so I'm very, very grateful," Magnay said.

"It's obviously good to win and I'm grateful for it, but I think it's probably one of those things that as I get older I'll look back on when I'm done playing and remember it a little bit more, and get a bit reminiscent of what happened and the big play that I made and what not.

"But right now, I'm just happy to be where I am and plant my feet and be grateful I got through another unscathed. Now we have another big game coming up on Saturday."

A big focus this off-season for the JackJumpers was to provide more help up front for Magnay, and recruiting Kiwi rookie Ben Gold would provide a genuine backup centre, allowing Majok Deng and Josh Bannan to largely stay as power forwards.

While Bannan only played his first game on Thursday night and Deng fractured a leg in the opening night win against the South East Melbourne Phoenix, Gold has made an immediate impact following h is college career at Marquette.

Gold hit a crucial three-pointer on Thursday night and then made a critical driving layup late in the piece among his crucial contributions in the 15 minutes he played with Magnay more than happy having him on board.

"He's a big time player and he's played in some big games in college so he's not another player that's lacking confidence," Magnay said.

"He knows what he's about and he's built tough and we know he can make those big plays. He's got to keep out of foul trouble a little bit as well and he's had some of those moments, but he'll learn and he'll grow.

"He's still so young and he's a much better player than I was at that age, and I'm super happy for him. He made some big plays and I'm looking forward for how he can grow for us this year."

While Magnay was also happy to have Bannan back for Thursday's game against the JackJumpers following a rib injury, he didn’t get to play with him as much as he would have liked with him limited to just 17:38 of court time for six points and four rebounds.

Showing his importance, Bannan was +16 when he was on the floor but he fouled out with three minutes to go in the third quarter after being called for an offensive foul.

Some of those five fouls might be ones that Magnay feels Bannan can look back on and avoid moving forward, but at the same time it was a night where six players fouled out across the two teams and 72 foul shots were attempted.

So while Magnay thinks it's something Bannan can work on, it might have also just been one of those nights.

"He knows that he has to be better in those moments and he'll take accountability for it, and the techs obviously never help," Magnay said.

"They give you a personal foul and that puts you in a bad spot automatically, and then he got unlucky I thought on the delay of game and then he's in there with four and takes on a one-on-one and gets a charge.

"He just has to settle down a little bit and I think he was pretty antsy to get out there and play having not played with us yet but he's a warrior. He'll dig in and work hard, but I'm sure he'd love to take a few of those minutes back himself but that's one of those learning moments you have to go through.

"He'll have to learn that himself how he can be better on Saturday against Brisbane, but he'll be fine and it's just a team thing that we have to grow with and he knows he has to be better in those moments as well."