The Tasmania JackJumpers put in a spirited performance but have gone down 101 – 83 to the Perth Wildcats, in the first of a two game roadtrip.
Tasmania brought an improved performance to the court following a forgettable outing against Cairns. However it wasn’t nearly enough to challenge Perth and their star import duo of Bryce Cotton and Vic Law. Together they combined for 55 points as the JackJumpers struggled to match the powerful Perth offence.
Early in the game Tasmania was rushing their offence and trying to outrun the Wildcats. They were settling for poor shots and making simple errors leading to turnovers, which allowed their opponents easy baskets in transition. The Wildcats had eight straight points midway through the first quarter and the game was looking to get ugly quickly for the visitors.
But they settled through some simplified offence and looked to get the ball inside. The change worked and they found easy baskets going inside through McKintosh, Krslovich and Kenyon to end the quarter down 21-15.
The remainder of the half continued to be a tough grind as JackJumpers were running a better offence, but consistently unable to knock shots down. McIntosh off the bench was aggressive offensively, but his inability get finish under the basket summed up the first half woes for Tasmania – doing all the hard work for no return. The lead grew to 17 points with four minutes to play in the first half. But a late timeout by Roth led the JJ’s to a 15-8 run to keep them within 11 at the half.
Adams from the arc! We look refreshed to start the 2nd half. Let's go boys👊 #FEARTHESTING pic.twitter.com/lPVw1pTUUy
— Tasmania JackJumpers 🐜 (@JackJumpers) December 19, 2021
The Wildcats were in control for the remainder of the game and were on the verge of giving the new boys a basketball lesson as they lead ballooned to 19 midway through the third. However, led by Josh Magette (17 points, 6 assists) and Josh Adams (15 points), Tasmania dug their heels in and refused to lie down and attacked the scoreboard. Magette in particular moved from facilitator to scorer as the scored 8 JackJumpers points in the final minute of the third quarter.
In the final quarter, the quality of the wildcats stood strong as they easily controlled the game. However the The lead never fell to single digits and held off any potential threats from Tasmania. Vic Law was outstanding, as took over on offence with 17 final quarter points, including three straight from downtown. Law propelled the team to triple figures in the closing seconds, the first team to do so in NBL22.
“I thought we were around that 9-11 point mark for quite awhile and we did not score the ball very well or shot the ball very well. I like our grit, I like our fight, I don’t like losing but at the end of the day its been 4 weeks of JackJumpers basketball and we just went against 35 years of [Perth Wildcat] basketball.
“If the ball starts going in things will start changing very quickly for us but we definitely need to keep working offensively, finding the right kind of mix and making some more shots at the end of the day”.
Scott Roth
Overall it was a much better performance from Tasmania. They kept their heads up and fought all game long, but were simply outclassed by one of the title favorites on their home floor. They have a few days to review the game their next match in Sydney on Wednesday, but still will their overall gameplan according captain Clint Steindl.
Embed from Getty ImagesThose first three games we’re scrapping away but this one just got away from us. I mean a team puts up 101…you don’t go crazy and throw everything out the window. We take it into Sydney and keep having a crack, having a swing”.
Clint Steindl
Takeaways from the game
Outrebounded
The JackJumpers were on the wrong side of a lopsided rebound count 51-30. The stat line would be a worry for Scott Roth as the Wildcts are not a a tall team, and they simply outhustled the JackJumpers on the glass – particulary in the second half.
Outside Scoring
This seems to pop up every week, but 22% (6/27) from outside just isn’t going to get it done. This is leading to teams happily allowing Josh Adams and Josh Magette (2/11 combined) to continue shoot from outside. Once these start falling it will change the whole offence.
The foul trouble with Mcintosh
Once again Mikyle Mcintosh was limited with his minutes due to foul trouble. He had issues fouling out at the Blitz, but he’s 8 games in and should have a decent bearing of the NBL reffing standards. He was limited to only 15 minutes tonight, which unfortunately is spot on his average minutes per game – all due to foul trouble. I really enjoy the unique aggressive inside presence for Tasmania and they really need him out there! Corey Williams on the ESPN commentary team summed up pretty well that Mikyle Mcintosh simply needs to stop fouling.
Not a happy homecoming
Clint Steindl and Will Magnay weren’t able to have the impact they would of wanted back in Perth, where they were teammates last season. Steindl was kept in close check by his former team, not connecting on four attempts from outside and finishing with 7 points. While Magnay didn’t see much of the ball all game, ending with 7 points and 1 rebound from 18 minutes.
