Relentless JackJumpers get ready for what's to come

The Tasmania JackJumpers steadied their NBL26 with two road wins in four days last week with coach Scott Roth crediting his team's work rate including the undeniable motor of Josh Bannan that helped will them to the win in Cairns.

The JackJumpers did go into the FIBA break having snapped their six-game losign streak with an impressive 23-point win at MyState Bank Arena against Sydney – which looks all the better now with the Kings' fresh off wins over Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Tasmania did return to action with a loss to the New Zealand Breakers  to start a run of three games in a week away from home before bouncing back in Gippsland against the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Wednesday.

Then on Saturday in Cairns, the JackJumpers shook off conceding the first 13 points of the game to take charge after quarter-time holding the Taipans to just 47 points over the last 30 minutes fresh off having held the Phoenix 45 over the same period.

The pair of wins steadies the JackJumpers inside the top six with an 8-10 record ahead of a return to MyState Bank Arena this Sunday against the Perth Wildcats which begins a gruelling period.

To follow two days later the JackJumpers are away to Melbourne United and then on Boxing Day it's hosting the Breakers and before three days later the Phoenix come to MyState Bank Arena, and then on New Year's Eve it's away to the Illawarra Hawks.

With the JackJumpers having now won three of four matches before things get hectic again from Sunday onwards, Roth can't fault the way his team is winning by outworking their opponents.

Across those wins over the Taipans and Phoenix, the JackJumpers had 35 offensive rebounds to 15 and 104 rebounds overall to 75 which was key to the results.

"It's been a hell of a couple of weeks for us and we've won three of our last four, and two on the road now out of the three, and have been gone for eight or 10 days," Roth said.

"The guys just buckled down and did the right thing, and we just had two really fantastic defensive quarters in this game in the third and the fourth.

"DJ (David Johnson) was on point and we've been looking for that from him for a bit, and it was just a really relentless effort across the board for us. We had 21 offensive rebounds and just the work rate was really good for us obviously."

The JackJumpers fell behind in both games last week having conceded 36 first quarters points to South East Melbourne before then giving up the first 13 to Cairns and ending up down 14.

However, over the last three quarters in both games they outscored their opponents 130 points to 92 with Roth paying tribute to his team's mental toughness for the defensive efforts.

"On the road I always tell these guys that that the only thing that you can bring with you is your defence and that's the only thing that will travel with you, and that has to be something that you're mentally tough enough to get through when the ball might not be going through for you," he said.

"Our relentlessness to get to the glass and get reloads was obviously outstanding for us in this game and they played with really good poise in the second half to not turn the ball over.

"These guys (Cairns) are quite capable of getting on runs as they did in the first quarter and we did relatively a good job with that."

Crucial to the win over South East Melbourne was the aggressiveness of Tasmania to attack the basket and get to the foul line 34 times with Will Magnay drawing 10 fouls himself.

Then against Cairns, the 21 offensvie rebounds were crucial in the JackJumpers taking 18 extra shots with Josh Bannan massive in that with eight o-boards on his own for his 20 points, 13 rebounds and three assists for the night.

"I always tell him that because he's quite attentive to a lot of things and he's very on it with an A personality, that's just in his DNA and he doesn't have to overthink things," Roth said.

"He just has to go and do his job and that is who he is. His work rate is just tremendous for us and I thought he's got a lot better over the course of the season of letting some things go, and not think too much about a foul here or a missed shot there, and just moving to the next play.

"That's a growth period for him and he has a huge motor which is undeniable when he's in that kinda mode."