Game Preview – JackJumpers v 36ers

Having spent the month of November away their traditional home court, the Tasmania JackJumpers make their long awaited return to MyState Bank Arena on Saturday night for a matchup against the visiting Adelaide 36ers.

“Coming back from Cairns, obviously a really good win up there on the buzzer after playing a couple of games in Launceston so it does feel like a while since we’ve been at MyState but keen to get back here tomorrow night and get back in front of our home fans.” Assistant Coach Mark Radford said at JackJumpers training on Friday.

The JackJumpers visited Adelaide as part of their November road trip, picking up an 82-72 win over the 36ers, which was built on an impressive defensive effort that held the home side to 39% shooting from the field.

Tasmania JackJumpers (7-5) vs Adelaide 36ers (4-8)
Saturday, 8PM AEDT
MyState Bank Arena, Hobart

History

In head-to-head matches the JackJumpers lead the series 5-2 ove the 36ers, and also leading the series at MyState Bank Arena 2-1. The last time they played in Hobart was a comfortable 98-82 victory to the JackJumpers, with Doyle and McVeigh both dropping 28 points each.

Returning from the FIBA break

Its been two weeks since the JackJumpers heart-stopping overtime win over the Taipans. They have used the FIBA break to work on the defence and improve overall as a basketball club according to Radford

“We had everybody into practice every day and we had a good little break after the Cairns game. Came back after a few days off and then we cracked in and I felt like we had made some real progress over this period but we had like seven training session all up we did a couple of different things.

“But in general we really tried to improve our basketball and we felt like we’ve come out the back end of that a better basketball team, but we’ll find out tomorrow night,” Radford said.

Guard Anthony Drmic also added that the competitiveness of the practice sessions has made the team stronger, as they all fight for minutes.

“We’re a deep squad you know we’ve got a lot of guys who are on the roster who aren’t getting the minutes that they probably deserve, you know the work they’re putting in and just how skilled they are.

“But that’s professional basketball and professional sports you’re always fighting for more minutes and doing everything you can to put your best foot forward, ” Drmic said.

Players to watch

DJ Vasiljevic – Since joining Adelaide mid-season, Vasilkevic has been a focal point of the 36ers offence, and is leading the team with 18.4 points per game. His ability to change a game was displayed when these two teams met last month. Despite being well held by the JackJumpers for most of the encounter, Vasiljevic had just 6 points across the first three quarters. But with his side down double figures he sparked a 16-4 run at the start of the fourth quarter, with 10 of those coming from Vasiljevic. It wasn’t enough to get the win, but it brought them back withing striking distance in the final minutes.

His ability to score points in a short period of time always make Adelaide a threat in games, Tasmania will be once again really need to focus.

Milton Doyle – Doyle would be very keen ot get back on the floor after a disappointing performance in Cairns and has had two weeks to mull over it. He picked up a couple of soft fouls early, which ultimately led to him fouling out after just 16 minutes of game time for 9 points and 3 assists. Although the team persevered and ground out the win, thanks largely to big performances by Jack McVeigh and Will Magnay, he would of been frustrated being forced watched from the sidelines.

Althought known as one an unselfish scorers in the league, don’t be surprised to see an aggressive Doyle early against the 36ers. Back on his home floor is where he flourishes, and once he is firing and is attracting the double teams, he will be looking to off load and find his team mates.

Keys to the game – why each team will win

Adelaide came out very flat against New Zealand on the opening game of Round 10 on Thursday night, falling 20 points down at the opening break. The remainder of the game they were competitive, however the Breakers held a double figure lead for the majority of the game. This will surprisingly be their main advantage, with Tasmania not having played for two weeks. Adelaide played badly early, but have blown away the cobwebs and are back in game mode. Tasmania could be a bit slow out of the blocks, and the 36ers will look to take full advantage.

The Sixers went 4 of 25 from outside against the Breakers, including a combined 1 from 10 from Cadee and Vasiljevic. Its highly unlikely they will struggle from outside like that for two games in a row.

For Tasmania, the win will come on the defensive end. Their inconsistency across NBL24 has been largely in part to their inability to get stops. Scott Roth has openly said that their defence is not where it needs to be and was a focus of the FIBA break.

Additionally it was defence that ultimately gave the JJ’s the win in thier last match against Adelaide, forcing 15 turnovers and scoring 17 points from turnovers. With Adelaide giving up 15 turnovers against the Breakers on Thursday, the JackJumpers will be licking their lips on the defensive end on Saturday.