Despite the increased focus on NBL referees and a perceived “over-officiating” of matches in recent weeks, Tasmania JackJumpers head coach Scott Roth believes it’s the opposite when it comes to his star guard Milton Doyle.
The second year import is known to as the “silent assassin” and lets his game do the talking, but Roth believes that may be working against him.
“He’s super unselfish and he’s quiet, and I think that quietness sometimes is mistaken and that allows him to play at a really good level. But I also think it’s one of those things where he doesn’t get a lot of those calls because of just how his demeanour is,” Scott Roth said.
“He’s not going to argue or go after refs or do anything ridiculous and its part of our culture anyway and I think people take advantage of that with him.”
Embed from Getty ImagesMilton Doyle leads Tasmania in scoring with 17.4 points per game, but averages 2.7 free throws per game, which leaves him tied for 33rd across all players in the NBL. Well behind league leaders Patrick Miller (8.8), Peter Jackson-Cartwright (7.0) and Nathan Sobey (6.4).
“I don’t know what it is, but I appreciate some free throws. I watch all these guys yell and scream every time somebody touches them, just because I don’t do that don’t mean I don’t get touched,” Doyle said.
“It’s just how it goes here, it was the same last year so hopefully things change a little bit.” he said.
The comments from Roth and Doyle came after their team’s tight 85-83 win over the Brisbane Bullets on the weekend, where they were on the end of a one-sided free throw count.
“You know for them to go to the line 31 times and for us to go 11 times and first team all NBL player [Doyle] goes 4 times over the course of the game and we fight adversity and just got through it and found a way to win.
“It’s a great credit to some of the things we were dealing with during the course of the game and we move on.” Roth said.
Embed from Getty ImagesTasmania as a team averages 16.6 free throws per game, which ranks last in the NBL. However that is somewhat related to their reliance of three points shots, where they average 32.2 attempts per game, second in the NBL behind Sydney’s 35.9 attempts.
The JackJumpers next game is against the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday 11 November.
