JJ’s guarded on Bryce calls

Saturday, March 9, 2024

"It’s very difficult to guard someone who is getting a lot of incidental fouls over the course of the game."

Tasmania head coach Scott Roth says his JackJumpers side need to lock in on their foul discipline ahead of their Playoff Series against the Perth Wildcats, but has called for greater consistency when refereeing the likes of Milton Doyle and Jordon Crawford against Bryce Cotton.

Cotton shot a league-leading 214 free throws over the course of NBL24, while Doyle and Crawford only took 152 shots from the line, combined.

Roth worked closely with four-time MVP while he was an assistant coach at Perth, and also praised Cotton’s ability to draw fouls and force the the referees to make a decision.

“Bryce, I was lucky enough to be around him, he’s a tremendous scorer, MVP, multiple championships, but he is difficult to deal with when you can’t touch him,” Roth told SEN.

“It’s very difficult to guard someone who is getting a lot of incidental fouls over the course of the game and our foul discipline will have to be really on point.

“I think he’s probably the greatest foul drawer in the league. My poor guys, Milton Doyle shot 71 and JC 81 for a total of 152, and Cotton still shot 214.

“We’re hoping some of these incidental calls are on both sides of the ball and our guys get the respect Bryce does, but he’s earned his way through the course of what he’s done and he’s difficult to deal with when you can’t get near him.

“When you get to this level and you get to these Playoffs when I have a guy who was All-NBL First Team last year and Second Team this year who is not getting to the foul line and is a high-volume user, you scratch your head at times.

“We have to take care of ourselves and have great foul discipline, it is one of our Achilles heels that we constantly talk about it.

“You can’t march guys and teams to the line 35 times a night or [have] Cotton getting 14 fouls shots and think you’re going to get out with a win.”

Roth also asserted whilst he is searching for more consistent foul calls for his star players, he’s aware of the difficult job performed by the league’s referees each week.

“That foul discipline is hugely important, I am probably the guy who talks to the referees the least over the course of the 28 games,” he continued.

“I’ve never sent a video to a refereeing group, I’ve never talked to Scott Butler over the course of the year and I never will – they have a very, very difficult job.

Tasmania’s Playoff Series with Perth will tip off at 9:30pm AEDT, live on ESPN via Kayo on Friday night.