The Tasmania JackJumpers (2-1) are back home to open Round 3 of NBL24, as they host the Illawarra Hawks (1-1).
Tasmania JackJumpers vs Illawarra Hawks
Thursday, 7.30PM AEDT
MyState Bank Arena, Hobart
The JackJumpers return home this Thursday night after a successful round 2, where they defeated the Sydney Kings at home and Melbourne United on the road. Defeating two of the NBL’s top ranked sides now sees Tasmania as the hunters to the hunted, and will have their hands full with the visiting Illawarra Hawks who are deeply loaded with talent.
Similar to the JackJumpers, the Hawks dropped their opening match in round one, but turned it around with a big win at home over the South-East Melbourne Phoenix.
Can Tasmania shut down the Illawarra offense?
Its two contrasting teams hitting the floor at MyState Bank Arena, its offensive verse defensive,
Defence has been the priority for Tasmania under Scott Roth, and it was on show last week keeping both Melbourne United and the Sydney Kings below 80 points in their two wins. Can they do the same against Illawarra?
It definitely won’t be the free flowing offensive game from Saturday night that saw the Phoenix and Hawks combine for 219 points. This is mostly due to Tasmania preference for a controlled half-court offence where they can get into their sets. This is their strength. They got out and ran against the Perth Wildcats, and ultimately loss playing a wildcats style of play, so expect them to slow down the tempo where possible.
For the Hawks, they won last week pushing the ball and knocking down threes, so don’t expect them to change in this matchup. The defensive end is where things will get interesting, as they have given up 96 and 106 points in their two opening games. They have struggled in both games to build any substantial leads as they simply were unable to get consecutive stops at the defensive end.
Key stats
Last week Illawarra had 58 points in the paint, which is likely the highest if not the highest so far in NBL24. They took advantage of the Phoenix who were missing key big men Tyler Cook, Gorjak Gak and Alan Williams.
Although Tasmania is only missing Will Magnay, expect the Hawks to attack Marcus Lee. The Tassie big man has struggled with fouls all season, resulting in him playing limited minutes for Tassie. This could be a big game for Sam Froling if Marcus Lee is spending a lot of time off the floor
Key match-up
Milton Doyle vs Justin Robinson
A lot has already been said about Doyle, who took over the final quarter in both games last week to lead the Jakcjumpers to victory. He’s already been in early discsussions to be an MVP candidate.
A dynamic scorer but also willing passer, is a perfect player on this jackjumpers team. He is more than will to be distributor across the first three quarters, but the blinkers go on in the 4th quarter if required, where he is near unstoppable with the ball in his hands outside the three point line.
But matching Miltons round 2 performances was Justin Robinson. He only had the one game, but he made it one to remember as he tallied 26 points 7 assists and 5 rebounds in the Hawks win over the Phoenix. Having missed almost all of last season with a knee injury is Robinson just getting warmed up and is this going to be what we see each week?
Expect both players to be heavily defended throughout the contest.
They said it
“We’ve just got to defend the three point line, that is their strongest [skill]. Sometimes we make shots, sometimes we’re not going to make shots. Again it comes back to defence, so if we play defence, keep them out on the three point line, let them play inside the twos and the paint, I think we’ll be happy with it,” JackJumpers forward Majok Deng
“Tassie is a tough place to play, they’re a good basketball team, they just beat a team that we lost to. It’s going to be another challenge for us right now and you know we’ll just keep moving forward that way and keep responding to challenges,” Hawks head coach Jacob JackJumpers.
Roster availability
Tasmania
Will Magnay – foot (Round 4)
Illawarra
Mason Peatling – cheekbone
