JACKS LOOK AHEAD AS KINGS REMATCH LOOMS
THE JackJumpers say they will enter their grand final rematch with Sydney on Sunday with no talk of last year’s championship encounter but well aware the Kings are yet again the team to beat.
Tasmania will take to the court at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday for the first time since May 11 when the Kings swept the JackJumpers 3-0 in the NBL Grand Final series.
While the JackJumpers are riding high after a solid win over Brisbane last week, the defending champions will pose the biggest challenge in the JackJumpers season to date, with the Kings in sizzling form sitting at 10-3 and atop the NBL table following an impressive 88-81 win over the second placed Breakers in New Zealand on Thursday night.
While JackJumpers coach Scott Roth was full of praise for the Kings ahead of their first clash of the season, he said there would be no fuss made about last year’s Grand Final loss as his team focused on improving each day.
“They’re very very good and they’re playing at a high level and they’re well rounded and obviously leading this league and won a championship last year,” Roth said.
“It hasn’t come up about last year. They have a new team and we have a team and so for us it’s just one day at a time.”
While Roth credited the allround talent of the Kings, he was quick to praise the season of star Sydney big man Xavier Cooks who he said made the Kings a formidable opponent on Sunday.
“Any time in this league you have a local player playing at an MVP level it’s just a bonus to your roster,” Roth said of Cooks.
“To have three imports and then a guy who is probably MVP this far in the season is just a huge credit to him and their organisation.
“When he’s playing at the kind of level it just makes it more firepower for them and makes it difficult to handle.”
While Roth said there was no secret formula to stopping Cooks, he admitted the Jackies could not afford to take their eyes off the rest of the Kings plethora of weapons.
“We don’t have any particular jobs for him but we’ll compete and fight against him,” Roth said. “But they’ve got other really good players around him, so although he’s a focal point and drives that bus, they have very good players around him you also have to worry about.”
Both the JackJumpers and the Kings will unveil their Indigenous jerseys in Sunday’s clash as part of NBL Indigenous Round, an initiative Roth was full of support for. “I love this round,” he said. “It’s a great tribute to the whole league of how they’ve been handling this with honouring the Indigenous people of Australia.”
The game tips off at 4pm.