Kings take the crown

... and brave Jacks in fight to keep Roth

THE fairytale is over for the Tasmania JackJumpers and losing the NBL grand final series to the Sydney Kings on Wednesday night may not be the only gut-wrenching loss for the team.

Spectulation was rife at the third grand final match that Jacks coach Scott Roth had received a tempting offer to coach in Japan.

Roth, the NBL’s Coach of the Year, has done a remarkable job to lead Tassie to a grand final series in the franchise’s maiden season.

The Cleveland native has instilled a confidence and a toughness in the Tasmania players, and they’ve repaid him in spades.

It’s understood Roth is on a modest contract at the JackJumpers, and the lure of bigger money in Japan could be enough to secure his signature overseas.

The Kings won the game three decider 97-88 and as if their talent and depth wasn’t enough, a flu bug floored the JackJumpers pre-game.

Multiple coaches and players were affected, with forwards Fabijan Krslovic and Jack McVeigh both ruled out.

Despite this setback, Tasmania surged out of the blocks to silence the bumper Sydney crowd.

JackJumpers star guards

Josh Adams and Josh Magette had the ball on a string in the first half.

Adams was particularly potent with 13 points, including three of five from range, to help Tasmania lead by one point at halftime.

Tasmania continued in the second half, with the team taking a three-point lead into the final quarter.

JackJumpers star Adams finished with a game-high 27 points, but it wasn’t enough as Sydney surged in the fourth on the back of Ian Clark to etch the Kings in the record books.

Coach Chase Buford became just the third coach in NBL

history to be undefeated through two finals series in his debut year.

The only other coaches that have done that were Phil Smyth with Adelaide in 1998 and Al Westover with the Tigers in 2006.

Sydney had a host of stars, but it was championship-winning Golden State Warriors guard Clark who stepped up when it mattered in the fourth with the Kings trailing by three points heading into the final frame.

Clark dropped three triples down the stretch to finish with 22 points and help the Kings create history.

Swingman Xavier Cooks capped off a career-best NBL season with another brilliant performance.