EXCITED JACKJUMPERS TARGETING HOME FINAL
AS THEY prepare to welcome public enemy number one Chase Buford and the Sydney Kings to Hobart on Friday night, the JackJumpers say they’ve got a home final locked in their crosshairs as they embrace the ‘exciting’ opportunity to fight for another playoff campaign.
Following their remarkable debut season, in which they reached the NBL Grand Final, the JackJumpers (14-11) have continued to defy outside expectations in their second year to sit fourth with just three games remaining as they battle it out with a handful of teams jostling for a spot in the top six.
Despite the crucial nature of their final three games – against Sydney, Perth and Illawarra – JackJumpers coach Scott Roth was upbeat about the predicament of the second-year side.
“It’s exciting for the franchise to be in this position and to be playing in these games so early on in the club’s history,” Roth said.
“It’s a great credit to the organisation and the players who continue to do the work.
“All of these games are going to be quite critical for everyone involved and we could easily go 3-0 or 0-3 and you just have to be able to have a little luck and be in the right place at the right time and make some shots and hopefully the ball bounces towards us.
“But it should be a great battle and exciting for our fans to be in that building over the weekend and hopefully we can come out on the winning end of those.”
Tassie centre Fabijan Krslovic, who admits he and housemate Jack McVeigh keep a close eye on the NBL table, reiterated his coach’s positive message but added that a home final was firmly in his sights.
“It’s always very hard to make playoffs and we are in a good spot where we are in control with how the rest of our season goes,” Krslovic said.
“At this time of the year every game is massive with the ladder, third through like seventh is just chaos.
“It’s so tight and everything is so crazy at the moment and we have three games we can be in control of and the first one is against Sydney.
“There’s a big difference between making the top four and making the top six to give yourself a second chance and a guaranteed home game and so that’s our goal is to get that [top-four spot],” he said.
Krslovic also gave a cheeky response when asked what reception Buford would receive in Tasmania on Friday after last season’s incident in which the animated American coach was fined $375 for kicking and damaging LED signage at MyState Bank Arena in a courtside outburst.
“Hopefully they get some extra padding on those LED screens,” Krslovic joked.
“He’s a very emotional coach. It’ll be interesting to see the reception he gets but we’ll let the fans take care of that and we’ll take care of the five players on the court.’
The Jackies and the Kings (17-7) will tip off at 7.30pm on Friday night.