Rd 14 Game Preview Tasmania JackJumpers v Cairns Taipans

Round 14 – Tasmania JackJumpers v Cairns Taipans

Saturday 6 January, 5.30pm tip-off

MyState Bank Arena

Watch LIVE on ESPN via Kayo and Foxtel

State of Play

The JackJumpers are coming off consecutive home losses as the festive season proved not-so-jolly. Tasmania will be desperate to get a win on the board as they languish amongst teams in similar positions on the ladder and things tighten up heading into the back end of the season.

They will be boosted by the addition of Will Magnay who returns after a week out with a set back with his previously injured foot. He has trained well during the week and should be firing after some rest.

Cairns should also be well rested and riding high from a big win over powerhouse Melbourne United on New Year’s eve.

The snakes did what many teams have failed to do, matching up to the ladder leaders and forcing a collapse in the last quarter, resulting in their 2^nd win against united this season.

Tasmanian Taran Armstrong will suit up for Cairns for the first time in his home state on Saturday.

Fun Facts

Heading into Round 14, Sean Macdonald ranks 2nd amongst qualified players for 3P% (51.6%) this season.

Tasmania has won the first quarter in seven of its last eight games.

Heading into Round 14, Cairns ranks 1st in the league for opponent three-point percentage this season (31.5%).

Last time they met
HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 8

CAIRNS TAIPANS 87 (Miller 26, McCall 21, Kuol 17)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 90 (McVeigh 24, Crawford 20, Macdonald 10)

Jack McVeigh drilled a long three-pointer on the buzzer in overtime as the Tasmania JackJumpers rallied from behind to beat the Cairns Taipans 90-87 in Far North Queensland.

The hosts couldn't find a bucket late in the last and Crawford's triple - his first points since the first quarter - gave Tasmania a lead before Miller tied the game 77-77 inside the last 30 seconds.

A second period of overtime looked certain on when Cairns star Tahjere McCall breezed to the rim to tie the game with just seconds on the clock.

Jordon Crawford (20 points) had scored all 10 previous points in overtime for Tasmania after missing a shot that would have won the game in the last second of regular time.

SRT Logistics Coaches’ take

Head Coach Scott Roth “We’re walking teams to the foul line because we're undisciplined. So it is a problemand it's something that we continue to address with our guys, but that is something, unfortunately, I can't not coach out of them.  I mean, we show them video. We obviously tell them what we're looking for and why these things are occurring. But you know, on the other hand, we're not the only team getting those calls and sometimes it can be quite lopsided in those kind of games. Wejust have to figure out and for us to be more aggressive offensively to get to the line, so we're shooting more foul shots. And then it just goes back to individual discipline, not reaching in at the last moment or being out of position.

“The really, really good players figure out how to impact a game when it's not going well for them and there's going to be a lot of games. You're not going to score so how else can you impact the game? That's any of our guys across the board, is it rebounding? Is it screening? Is it being a great teammate? Those kind of things are hugely important for us moving forward.

Ins & outs 

Tasmania JackJumpers: Majok Deng will miss with an ankle injury

Cairns Taipans: TBC

Opponents on the Radar

Patrick Miller has recorded 14 games with 5+ assists this season – the most of any player in the league.