On Sunday a lackluster shooting performance by the JackJumpers played a significant part in their loss to the South East Melbourne Phoenix. Highlight plays by Will Magnay and Clint Steindl managed to hide some pretty big holes in their offence, highlighted by a 25 point second half, their second lowest scoring half of the season.
We usually don’t look too closely at stats and trends here at Green Ant Rant, but there are some worrying numbers through the first quarter of the season that are hard to ignore. As of 25 of January, the JackJumpers sit in last place in team statistics for:
- Overall Field Goal (38.6%)
- 3 point percentage (26.8%)
- Free Throw Percentage (64.7%)
- Points Per Game (74.8).
As expected with any new team, the offence won’t be working perfect from game one. We haven’t hit the panic button yet, but its a worry eight games in the offence isn’t quite clicking together. JackJumpers coach Scott Roth addressed the offence issue post-game after Sunday’s loss to the Phoenix.
“Obviously the offence is lagging, but the ball needs to go in. You know, we have guys who aren’t making shots, they need to step up and make some shots, that would help us across the board. Our defense has been very consistent,” Scott Roth said.
“Hopefully we’ll have some breakout games where the ball starts to go in and things get a little looser and free for us. When its not going in, its difficult. Obviously third quarter again proved fatal for us. Really not being able to capitalise on open shots and got away from us,” he said.
So what is the problem?
Well its no surprise offence has been an issue with this team. Looking at the roster on paper, it was put together without many high volume scorers or pure shooters, but mostly role players that could play at both ends of the floor. With a lot of the offence falling on the shoulders of their three imports.
Josh Magette joined Tasmania as a pass-first point guard. He has the ability to score, but his strength lies in running a team. He came to the JackJumpers averaging 21 points and 10 assists in the NBA G-league, before a stint in the Turkish league averaging 9 points and 4 assists in the Turkish league (which allows up to 8 import players per team). At times in the season we have seen him lead the scoring and take the most field goals, but shooting is not his strong point. A lot of his shots come on a fast break, when he open from outside (currently shotting 24%), or creating something late in the shot clock.
Josh Adams came in to the team to be the main go-to scorer, but is still trying to figure out his fit within the team. He has been a good outside shooter over his career – shooting 33% in Italy last season and 36% in Spain the season prior, however has struggled to find that form since landing in Tasmania. He’s currently averaging 18% from outside from 5 attempts per game. Rather than continually forcing outside shots he has found he is most effective driving into the paint and getting to the foul line.
Embed from Getty ImagesFor Mikyle McIntosh, he is similar to Josh Magette as he’s trying to find his role within the team. Scott Roth recently has pushed him to produce more, as he tries to be an impact offensive player off the bench. He’s not a great threat from outside, and is better suited to using his superior strength to back down opponents inside. His finishing under the rim needs some improvement, but is always a threat in the post and can get to the foul line frequently.
Additionally the team runs a very structured offence. So when a play breaks down late in the shot clock there seems to be a bit of panic, often resulting in a rushed low percentage three point shot.
How can the shooting be improved?
The numbers at the moment are not great, and sometimes the shots just don’t fall. Its also it hard to see things not improving as the season goes on as players build in-game continuity. However providing more open looks for our shooters needs to continue to be a focus going forward.
A great example of this is the offensive output this season from Clint Steindl off the bench. He has doubled his season average to 12 points per game from last season with the Wildcats (currently shooting49% FG and 42% from 3). A lot of Steindl’s points are coming off specific plays drawn up for him out of timeouts. He has been a streaky shooter his whole career, so its important to get him good looks early in the game.
Embed from Getty ImagesSimilar to Steindl, I’d like to see the JackJumpers to run similar plays for Josh Adams more often, especially early in games. He is a big confidence player, his efforts early in the season against Adelaide are testament to this, where he lit up for multiple threes in the final quarter to almost steal victory from the 36ers. Knocking down an open three early or just getting on the scoresheet through some easy points from the foul line would really set him up to increase his output from 14 to 18-20 points each night.
This will hopefully develop later in the season, but getting Next Star Nikita Mikalovski as a sniper off the bench. We are yet to see him in a game due to a number of injuries and illness, but has a lot a talent to burn. In his three seasons with Russian club Avtodor Saradov in the VTP United league he has averaged over 40% from outside and can run the floor on the fast break. Defensively he still needs to improve, but in bursts off the bench he could provide some quick scoring off the bench will some well constructed plays.
As mentioned earlier, the team runs a very structured offence. Which opposition teams seem to adapt to defensively in the second halves of games and the points dry up for long periods, and we do see some clunky offensive sets with bad shots taken as the shot clock winds down. Tasmania don’t have a great deal of players who can create their own shot, however they need to be able to adapt when the offensive has become stagnant. Their three imports all have the ability to drive to the lane and draw fouls. Making an effort to have the ball in their hands in the closing stages of an offensive set would provide them an option of a shot or drive to the basket.
We’ll keep an eye on the offence as the season continues.
