Déjà vu for JackJumpers as injury list grows

It’s an unfortunate case of déjà vu for Tasmania fans as more injuries continue to pile up for a team that’s been slammed by them in recent history.

With Majok Deng, Ben Ayre and Bryce Hamilton already on the list, two more key players, David Johnson and Ben Gold, are looking set to join them on the sideline after the JackJumpers’ loss to the Sydney Kings.

“He’s got a calf injury, which I’m sure is going to be quite a while,” Scott Roth said about Johnson.

“Ben Gold is down too. He’s been dealing with a foot problem for the last 10 days, so I wouldn’t expect to see him for a while.”

Second-year import Johnson has been lighting it up early this season, providing a much-needed scoring punch and putting himself firmly in contention for the Best Sixth Man award come season’s end.

Last season, Johnson was ruled out for almost half the season with a calf injury sustained in just the second game of his NBL career.

Gold, on the other hand, looks to have re-aggravated an injury he had been managing for some time now.

“He was trying the best he could,” Roth said of Gold playing through pain.

“He hasn’t practised in about two weeks; to be honest, he’s just been playing in the games.

“We will have to shut him down for a while and see what we can do with him.”

This is familiar territory for JackJumpers fans, who have seen their team decimated by key injuries over the last three seasons.

“We will have some development players playing, and it is what it is. That’s sports,” Roth added.

“You definitely shake your head at it, and hopefully this is very early for us, and some of these will recover, but it is what it is at this point.”

Tasmania will now travel to Melbourne to play the Phoenix from 3pm AEDT on Sunday, live on ESPN.