A third quarter defensive masterclass by the Phoenix set up a dominant 76-63 win over the Tasmania JackJumpers on Sunday afternoon in Hobart.
With the game in the balance at halftime, a dominant 32-15 third quarter by the Phoenix pushed the lead out to double figures. A rusty JackJumpers outfit that struggled to score all afternoon were unable to close the gap to single figures for the remainder of the match.
The JackJumpers started off the game showing no ill effects of a 23 day lay off. Running the ball through Will Magnay where possible as Tasmania opened a 14 -4 lead on the back of 10 straight points. While defensively they had the Phoenix on the ropes forcing 7 turnovers for the quarter. However, Cam Gliddon and Kyle Adnam combined for three triples in the final minutes to cut the JackJumpers quarter time lead to one point.
The teams traded baskets for the reminder of the half, but it was the performance of Will Magnay that was the key talking point. Coach Scott Roth announced pregame Magnay was 100% fit and he was dominating his much anticipated matchup with Zhou Qi, holding the former NBA player to just two points for the half. Magnay provided highlight plays at both ends of the floor, providing a glimpses of his best from previous seasons.
Magnay with the poster dunk to start the game
— Tasmania JackJumpers 🐜 (@JackJumpers) January 23, 2022
Live on @10PeachAu / @ESPNAusNZ / @kayosports
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A focused Phoenix adjusted after halftime and cranked up the defensive intensity. Moving to a full court defense they stifled the JackJumpers offense, making it incredibly difficult for Tasmania to score and dominating the rebounds.
They then punished Tasmania at the offensive end, the Phoenix 20-8 in the opening five minutes. Zhou Qi and Mitch Creek putting their quiet first halves behind them to dominate inside the paint and regularly able to get to the foul line.
Clint Steindl was playing a lone hand on the offensive end for Tasmania, his outside shooting and rare dunk providing few highlights for the home fans as they entered the final quarter down 14 points.
Clint is draining them from deep with 4 3 pointers going into the last quater
— Tasmania JackJumpers 🐜 (@JackJumpers) January 23, 2022
Live on @10PeachAu / @ESPNAusNZ / @kayosports
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There was no final quarter comeback from the JackJumpers, as the Phoenix continued the defensive pressure forcing the JackJumpers to only 10 points on 4/22 shooting.
Zhou Qi was a constant probelm for Tasmania in the second half. After a quiet first half he ended the game with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks, consistently getting to the line when his team was struggling offensively.
With only 25 total points for the second half, Scott Roth will be hoping for an improved shooting performance in their home stretch of games to keep them in touch with the top 4.
Scott Roth put a lot of the result down to a lack of games recently.
“20 days off regardless of what’s transpiring with is 20 days off of a lot of rust. A lot of these teams out of COVID and their rest time didn’t bounce back their first games back and I thought we handled ourselves very well early on with a lot of energy and passion to play and it was a difficult game,” Roth said.
“We’ve worked very very hard the last five, six seven days as guys have come out [of isolation]. I think Will [Magnay] would probably say the same thing that this has nothing to do with COVID at the end of the day, its more to me a little bit of rust” he said.
Despite playing his best game of the season with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks, Will Magnay was also focused on getting the team to play better.
“I would rather talk about the team, you know I don’t care how play. But if I can block shots and we can clean up some of those rebounds I think that really puts us in that battle” Magnay said
“Just cleaning up some of the scrappy areas that we really we should be dominating. But I guess yeah it was nice to block some shots but there’s a lot of stuff we need to fix this week and a lot of work we’ve got to do.
Embed from Getty ImagesKey takeaway from the game
McIntosh shows improvement
After being singled out by Coach Roth during the week, McIntosh showed some glimpses of of improvement during the game. He was a presence offensively while on the court, often bullying his way on the post for scoring opportunities or getting to the line. We still need to see more from him regularly.
Dominated on the rebounds
Despite forcing 20 turnovers during the game, the Jackjumpers were monstered 59-35 in the rebound count. Including giving up 18 offensive rebounds. He struggled to finish under the ring, finished with 2 from 8, but his increased aggressiveness was a welcome addition.
Adams and Magette cold shooting
The two JackJumpers start imports struggled to have any impact offensively during the game. The two combine for 13 points on 5 of 27 shooting from the field, including 1 of 11 from outside. Magette did improve his playmaking with 10 assists, however both will need to be scoring in at least double figures for the team to get back in the winners list
