The Tasmania JackJumpers provided some promising glimpses for season ahead, despite going down 79-89 to the Brisbane Bullets in their pre season debut in Hobart.
In front of a capacity crowd eager to see their to see their JackJumpers on court for the first time, they were provided an entertaining game from both teams who were trialing new players and lineups for the first time in competitavie game.
JackJumpers coach Scott Roth advised earlier in the week that he wouldn’t be too concerned about the final score, but wanted to provide opportunities to give all players time on the court ahead of the NBL season beginning 3 December.
For the JackJumpers scoring, they were by their three imports Josh Adams (18 points) Mikyle Mcintosh (14 points) and Josh Magette (12 points, 5 assists). Being only game 1, you don’t want to overanalyze the game, so I’ll provide a quick overview of the match and some key takeaways.
With centre Will Magnay sitting out of the game recovering from a foot injury, the JackJumpers were always going to struggle to match up against a much taller Bullets lineup. However, the speed, energy and pressure of smaller JackJumpers were causing headaches for Brisbane, who despite shooting better throughout the game, struggled with holding on to the ball, commiting 24 turnovers.
But Tasmania, who ended up with an extra 25 field goal attempts, struggled with their shooting (40% field goal) all night. A lot of this came down to obvious nervous energy, but also there was quite a few forced shots late in the shotclock from outside.
Not surprisingly the Bullets worked the ball inside on most of their offensive possessions, shot 59% from field, while almost doubling the amount of free throw attempts (27 to 14). They fought off any poteital 4th quarter comeback from Tasmania through by veternas Nathan Sobey (18 points), Lamar Patterson (9 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals) and promising new import Robert Franks (16 points, 7 rebounds).
Embed from Getty ImagesKey takeaways
Outside shooting
The JackJumpers had no hesitation in pulling the trigger from outside, with close to half their total field goal attempts (35 of 74) coming from outside. Which again, the size advantage the bullets had in the match made scoring inside difficult. We even saw big man Jock Perry step out to knock down one of three attempts from outside, which no doubt were a response to forcing his direct opponent, 7 foot 5 Chuanxing Liu out of the paint.
We’ll see a lot of small ball this season
The JackJumpers are one of the smallest teams in the NBL, especially when you take Magnay out of the lineup. Their small ball lineups featured a lot of quick ball movement, fast breaks, and outside shooting. This worked well at times, with their taller opponents often getting beaten off the dribble and forcing the other defenders to leave their man and help. But on the flipside they were beaten 41-30 on the rebound count, however it was promising was seeing all the players crashing the glass, and beat the Bullets 12-6 on the offensive rebound count.
Magette is just what a debut franchise needs
They simply looked much better with him on the court. He is able to control the pace and direct the players around the court, and would of has a lot more assists if they could of knoked down a few more shots. His dribble penetration and kicking back out will really benefit the game of Steindl, McDaniel, McVeigh, plus of course Magette showed us he has not problems scoring as well.
Fightback in the second half
At the start of the third quarter the bullets scored 8 unanswered points, extending the lead to 12. The JackJumpers hadn’t scored for 3 minutes and were on the edge of a potential blowout, however an emphatic 18-7 run saw them close the game back within a point and have the crowd roaring back in the game. The wins will be tough to come by in season one, but its these moments that will keep the fans coming back.
Also…that dunk
His name ain't Jack but he's a jumper 😳
— NBL (@NBL) November 14, 2021
Josh Adams takes flight in MyState Bank Arena. #NBLBlitz live on @kayosports 📺@tasmania #DiscoverTasmania pic.twitter.com/Aa0hvrdYt8
