US RECRUIT CONFIDENT OF BEING ‘GO-TO’ GUY

JACKJUMPERS’ star recruit Milton Doyle said he won’t shy away from the big moments in his debut season as the American shooting guard looks to fill the huge shoes left by the highflying Josh Adams.

After being unable to come to an agreement for Adams to return to the JackJumpers next season, the team went to the open market for a new star and, on Friday, Doyle was revealed as their man.

Doyle will be heavily relied on to fill the scoring hole left by Adams who won the team’s MVP award and was named in the All-NBL Second Team after finishing seventh in the league for scoring and led the team’s late-season fairytale run with a number of remarkable playoff performances.

But with NBA experience and a well-rounded game to go along with a deadly outside jump shot, Doyle appears more than capable of holding his own for the JackJumpers.

“I bring playmaking ability, being able to get guys involved and create my own shot, and defence,” Doyle said.

“I think I can do a little bit of everything on the court.

“But you can’t win unless you have team-first guys surrounding you so I try to be that type of guy and help other players out on the court and allow myself to be helped by them also.”

The 193cm sharp shooter played in Turkey this year but has spent time in the NBA having played 10 games with Brooklyn Nets in the 2017-18 season as well as time with Chicago Bulls in 2019.

During his time with the Bulls, Doyle played for their G-League side where he starred with averages of 17.5 points, 5.8 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2 steals per game in the 2019-20 season.

When asked whether he could be the JackJumpers ‘go-to guy’, the confident American said he had no issues being relied on in clutch situations.

“I think I can make those plays so I’ll never be scared of the moment,” Doyle said.

“I’ve made big plays throughout my career so, if it falls in my hands, I’ll definitely take the shot.

“But I feel there’s a lot of guys on the team that can do that also.”

Doyle said joining the JackJumpers was an opportunity he could not pass up and was coming to Tasmania looking to create history.

“It’s (Australia) always been a destination to play and I just haven’t got the chance to get over there so when I had an opportunity like this I couldn’t turn it down as it’s a great opportunity,’’ he said.

“They had a great year last year and made it all the way to the championship and fell a little short so this year there’s going to be big expectations and I’m hoping to be a part of history being made there.”

Doyle will arrive in the state in August ready for training camp beginning on August 15.