DEPTH KEY AS JACKS TRUMP KIWIS
IT’S often said the measure of any good team is the output and depth of its bench and if that’s the case, the Tasmania JackJumpers well and truly proved just how good they are in Monday’s win over New Zealand.
With an impending date against reigning champions and ladder leaders Sydney on Friday, the nine-point win over the second-place Breakers was one of the Jackies most impressive performances of the season.
The JackJumpers second unit put in one of the best bench displays the league has seen in NBL|23 scoring 39 points between them.
Big man Fabijan Krslovic put up 14 points along with Rashard Kelly’s 12 – compared to New Zealand’s eight with all those scored by Cam Gliddon.
“It’s been the foundation of this franchise for me and the people that I brought in. This is just a selfless group and that’s what we hang our hat on, just doing the work every day and when you get an opportunity to go out there and produce you take it,” Roth said.
“I’ve told these guys many times, I trust them all I just can’t play them all. Their roles are different and unique in some ways. Some people appreciate it and some people don’t but I appreciate them all because I know the work and the diligence that these guys fight and the passion they have.
“The values and culture we build from that bench group is hugely important to the group.”
While Roth was full of praise for the bench, he also credited a return to being a more aggressive side as a key contributor in the result.
“I thought, finally, we were solid for the forty minutes,” Roth said.
“We didn’t have a lot of dips like we have in the past for longer periods of time. We had our moments in this game but I thought we were relatively solid across the board. It’s one of the things we got away from, and it’s slightly my fault, being more aggressive in general but credit to these guys (the Breakers). We’ve had many battles with them and to get one (a win) against them was great after Christmas.
“I think we have enough bodies back now that we can be aggressive and smartly aggressive and that’s kind of been what we’ve hung our hat on as a team, going in to defend the island and fight as hard as we possibly can for the people of Tasmania.”
The JackJumpers now sit sixth on the ladder following consecutive wins over Illawarra and New Zealand and face the Kings at Qudos Bank Arena on Friday before a New Year’s Day clash with South East Melbourne Phoenix at MyState Bank Arena on Sunday.