Coach keeping team grounded
Jack Mcveigh had just hit one of the greatest shots in NBL history to put Tasmania within touching distance of their first ever Australian National Basketball League title but his coach, Scott Roth, was calling for a quick celebration by his side before they locked into attempting to decide the Championship Series tomorrow.
Tasmania guard Milton Doyle kept the ball in play off a tipped inbound pass before Mcveigh fired over Matthew Dellavedova from almost half-court with 2s to play to win the game, 93-91 for the Jackjumpers over Melbourne United at home in Melbourne.
The victory means Tasmania will take a 2-1 series lead back to Hobart for tomorrow’s Game 4 clash.
“I’m all about celebrating because life’s very short,” Roth said post-game. “We’ll celebrate and have some excitement and enjoyment this evening and then we’re back to business when we travel back to Hobart to recover again.
“It’s just another shot. If we happen to win the championship, they’ll talk about it, but right now it’s just another half-court shot that went in.
“He’s had two of them this year and he’s just one of those guys that loves those kinds of moments.
“Obviously we’re excited to win in this building and we just have to now come back down and start recuperating and getting ready.”
Doyle says he wasn’t actually sure if the ball had touched Sean Macdonald prior to ensuring it remained in play, but he wasn’t going to take any chances.
“I saw Seany jump, and I couldn’t tell if he touched it or not, but I wasn’t going to leave it up to the refs to make a decision,” Doyle said.
“I saved it in, I looked, saw Jack and just got him the ball. I knew whoever got it could make a play with six seconds on the clock.
“It looked good, that’s all I was seeing from behind the play when he released it, it looked good, and I knew it’s Jack — that’s what he does.”
While Mcveigh has been heralded the hero for his game-winner and Player of the Game performance, Majok Deng once again rose to the occasion when his name was called to help keep Tasmania in the game.
Deng already played a crucial role in keeping Tasmania’s season alive during their Playoff Series against Perth, and ignited a faltering Jackjumpers offence to end with 15 points in 16 minutes this time around.
“He’s proven over the course of time with us that he’s had multiple moments,” Roth said of the veteran forward.
“We wouldn’t be sitting here without his Game 2 effort against Perth at home when we were flat and he came in and got 17 or 18 points for us. He’s fought through injuries and been patient sitting over there, working hard every single day in practice.
“We came out of the huddle and he drilled his first three off a set play we had just diagrammed. He’s a scorer and . . . he was obviously a deciding factor here.”
Tasmania’s win was soured by a potentially serious knee injury suffered by Marcus Lee, who was helped off the court following an accidental collision with team-mate Jordon Crawford.
Lee did not return to the game, and has already been battling with a shoulder issue through the finals. However, prior to Game 3, he said the injury he suffered against the Hawks was no longer impeding him.
Roth says he didn’t know how severe Lee’s injury was at this stage.
“I haven’t really seen him other than back there with the group, but I really have no idea.
“We’ll obviously get him back to Hobart and we’ll see where we stand with him.” — Nbl.com.au