LOFTY GOALS
JackJumpers’ new coach sets sights on title
JACKJUMPERS inaugural coach Scott Roth has immediately outlined lofty ambitions for the NBL’s newest club, declaring the goal from day one is to win a championship.
Central to his plans is targeting a core group of players to be the pillars when he begins assembling his first roster. Having been involved with one of the best sporting organisations in Australia, Roth will leave his post as Perth’s lead assistant with first-hand knowledge of what’s required to build a competitive foundation in one of the toughest leagues in the world.
“This first year is about building a house, it’s about putting your foundation in and having strong values and culture and starting to build a new bloodline and, again, incorporating the past with the players that have been in Tasmania,” Roth said. “My goal is to try to find three or four or five core players in this free agency class that we’re going to go after, that we can just start building around and then add here and there and then find out where our imports fall in.
“If anything I’ve learned over the years, I’ve been on bad teams and good teams as a player and a coach, and I’m just leaving a team here shortly that [has been] 35 straight years in the finals and the bloodline is incredible with players after players being here 10, 12, 15 years. That’s the way you win, high character guys, passionate guys, team first guys, and that’s what we’re going to look for foremost.
“My goal is hopefully we can find three or four foundational players right off the bat that will be in Hobart for five, six, seven, eight years.
“It’s probably a little greedy but I really think we can land some of these kind of players and build around them. Players that want to go on a journey, and really want to do something incredible in their first season there in Tasmania and build something special.
“I want to win a championship, and from day one that’s going to be our goal. In professional sports, if you’re not in to do that I don’t know why you’re ... involved in it and so we want to have that mentality going forward.”
Roth is not oblivious to the challenges which will face the JackJumpers when they join the league in the 2021-22 season, having seen the rollercoaster debut of South East Melbourne last year.
The Phoenix raced to a 5-2 record after their first six rounds in the competition, before winning just four of their past 21 games. “It’s not easy, the league is not easy,” Roth said.
“There’s great coaches in the league, very, very good players and we got to make sure that we just build a strong foundation to start with, incorporating the right kind of players with high character, great values, work ethic.”