A late rally by the Tasmania JackJumpers left them short of a remarkable comeback win, as they fell to the Adelaide 36ers 83-80 in Hobart.
The 36ers took the lead late in the first quarter and their ability to consistently make shots throughout the game allowed them to control the game until the final minutes.
The JackJumpers were rocked by the 36ers sharp shooting in the first quarter, who shot 70% from the field including 4-6 from deep. Tasmania struggled to match them, but 9 quicks points from Clint Steindl off the bench kept them close 22-25 at the first break.
Steindl an early standout with 9 points in the first 💪 pic.twitter.com/QRzhqaOYSA
— Tasmania JackJumpers 🐜 (@JackJumpers) December 9, 2021
However, the second was a scrappy quarter with both teams unable to look after the ball. The JackJumpers only could score 12 points as they went 2/13 from outside the arc. Josh Adams in particular struggled to have an impact offensively while guarded heavily by 6’8 import Todd Withers. His only points to half-time were 4 points from the foul line. The 36ers early shooting form ran cold, but were able to consistently get to foul line and extend the halftime lead to 42-34.
Coach Scott Roth wasn’t happy with his teams energy to start the game.
“We just need to get off to a better start…. we had a lot of mental lapses especially on the defensive end. I wasn’t really pleased in the first half with our intensity, we just weren’t a desperate team at the end of the day.
Scott Roth
The JackJumpers starters set the energy back at a higher level to begin the second half. They moved the ball inside more and put pressure on the Adelaide bigs. Their offense was much more free-flowing and were getting to the foul line. But they were let down on the defensive end several time through miscommunication on screens and switches. This allowed Adelaide guards Mitch McCaron and Tad Dufelmeier to help themselves to multiple uncontested layups under the basket. Adelaide stretched the lead to 10 going into the final quarter.
The final quarter began with teams trading baskets and Adelaide’s Daniel Johnson stretching the lead out to 13 with his first three of the game. But the match turned with Todd Withers fouling out and allowing Josh Adams some breathing room on offense. He responded with 2 huge threes and a foul on a 3 point attempt to cut the lead to one point with 90 seconds to play.
Up and Adams pic.twitter.com/epIiVdfVJt
— Tasmania JackJumpers 🐜 (@JackJumpers) December 9, 2021
But Adelaide guard Dusty Hannah stepped up for some big shots of his own, nailing an off-balanced 3 to beat the shot clock and stun the Tassie crowd. Only to be matched down the other end by another 3 from Josh Adams. But Hannahs responded yet again with a clutch 2 pointer to stretch the lead back to 3. Tasmania JackJumpers had their chances to take the game to OT but 2 missed 3 point attempts from Josh Magette in the closing seconds, but both rimmed out handing the 36ers the victory.
Embed from Getty ImagesTake away’s from the game
Magette and Adams shooting struggles
Only two games in, its become obvious the fortunes of the team will heavily rely on the shooting of the starting guards. Maggette had the most field goal attempts for the team, but shot 4-13 (including 1-7 from outside). Many of these shots were late in the shot clock, but the team needs to work harder on getting better looks.
As mentioned earlier, Adams was having trouble scoring, going 0-7 to start the game. The final quarter showed how valuable he is to the team, it would be great to see more plays running to get him open.
Magnay not seeing enough of the ball
For one of the smallest teams in the leagues, they need to involve Magnay more when he’s on court. He has a great offensive game, often drawing a double team when he has the ball in the post. But was limited to just 3 field goal attempts and limited touches inside the paint.
Post game Scott Roth provided some clarification
“[Will Magnay’s] probably 3 or 4 more weeks away in my opinion from being in actual basketball shape, you know he hasn’t done anything for 5 months and the last 3 weeks he’s sped up his conditioning and hes been practicing almost every day”.
‘Scott Roth
Captain Clint steps up for Tasmania JackJumpers
In his best game in a Tasmania singlet, Steindl top scored with 22 points. He was a focal point on offense when everyone else was struggling. He’s a great asset to have come off the bench, but hopefully he won’t be required to lead the scoring too often this season.
Next up – No time to dwell on the loss as the Tasmania JackJumpers head north to take on the Cairns Taipans on Saturday night, as part of a 3 game road trip before Christmas.
