BODY BLOW FOR JACKS AS ADAMS DEPARTS
A FORMER NBL MVP believes the JackJumpers will be fighting an uphill battle to find a player capable of filling the huge hole left by star guard Josh Adams after the newcomers and the high-flyer decided to part ways.
On Friday the JackJumpers announced the MVP of their incredible debut season would not be returning to the team after lengthy negotiations from both parties did not work out.
After leading the JackJumpers to a fairytale grand final series Adams is understood to have received milliondollar offers to play overseas next season and despite their best efforts to retain the American guard the JackJumpers are now on the search for a new star import.
2010 NBL MVP Corey “Homicide” Williams said while there was a huge pool of talent across the globe it was going to be tough for the JackJumpers to fill the void left by the scoring machine.
“It’s a huge loss for them and just think about how in the grand final how he went toe to toe with the best players in the league and he stepped up to another level,” he said.
“He made second team All-NBL and it’s going to be an enormous hole for them to fill.
“There’s no shortage of great players out there and there’s going to be a lot of players wanting to come to the JackJumpers to show what they can do but what he was able to do this season isn’t going to be easy to find.
“They were so in sync with each other and he’s an exceptional shooter, ball handler, and playmaker and that’s not going to be easy to fill and a lot of times teams don’t get the right fit so all I can say is good luck with it.”
Williams believed it was ultimately Adams’ matchwinning three in the team’s semi-final series win over Melbourne United that cost the team being able to retain the 28-year old.
“When you have a great season like he just did the demand goes sky high and this ain’t no cupcake league, the whole world is watching,” he said.
“It all goes back to when he made the shot of his career with that dagger against Melbourne.
“I would have loved for him to resign but when you make shots like that your demand increases and it becomes overwhelming, and in the end he probably got priced out of the JackJumpers budgets because you can only imagine the high level European teams chasing him and they’d be paying a ridiculous amount.”
Williams said the JackJumpers better be prepared for a vastly different second season. “What happened this season isn’t going to happen again,” he said. “Teams won’t just look at them as pushovers now.”
The JackJumpers also announced on Friday they would not be re-signing forward MiKyle Mcintosh in order to chase a bigger body to complement star centre Will Magnay.
The JackJumpers were unavailable for comment.