R17 Preview: Brisbane Bullets vs Tasmania JackJumpers

When: 5.30pm (AEDT), Saturday 26 March, 2022

Where: Nissan Arena, Brisbane

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sports NZ


Who won last time?
Brisbane 94 (Franks 23, Patterson 16, Deng 14, Sobey 14) d Tasmania 86 (McIntosh 21, McVeigh 21, Magette 15)  – Round 13, Nissan Arena, Brisbane

The Bullets welcomed Nathan Sobey back and were simply too good for the Tasmanians, a 31-15 run surrounding half-time creating a gap the visitors couldn’t reel in as Brisbane dominated inside. Power forwards MiKyle McIntosh and Jack McVeigh combined for 42 points for Tassie, while counterparts Robert Franks and Deng Deng added 37 at 59 per cent.


What happened last start?

Friday night was a weird and wonderful night of basketball in the Hungry Jack’s NBL, and most memorable for JackJumpers and Bullets fans. Anthony Drmic will go down in Brisbane folklore for his game-winning heave as his team somehow retrieved a seven-point deficit in 22 seconds, with Deng Deng the unsung hero for his high-IQ intercept and kick-ahead pass.

Tasmania also produced an impressive escape act on Friday, having given up a 12-point second-quarter lead, they found themselves three points down with two minutes to play in Perth. But as they had all night, Clint Steindl and McVeigh stood tall, then Josh Adams delivered a clutch contested triple to move Tassie back within 2.5 games of the top four.


Who’s in form?

Jack McVeigh – In the toughest NBL environment, McVeigh was superb on Friday with 19 points, seven rebounds and three dimes. His catch-and-shoot game is well known, but his composure on penetration is a new string to his bow. Last time against Brisbane he dropped 21 points, while in Tasmania’s past eight wins he’s averaged 15.2ppg at 40 per cent from deep.

Robert Franks – While McVeigh’s firing, he’s not the hottest four-man in the NBL, that title goes to Vic Law or Franks, who has averaged 23.3 points and 9.0 rebounds his past six games, while draining a staggering 21/39 from the arc. He went 9/11 inside on Friday, exploiting New Zealand’s donut defence, and he’ll need to do the same against the Magnay-less JJs.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It&#39;s going to the wire!<br><br>?watch on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@espnausnz</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BRISBANEBULLETS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BRISBANEBULLETS</a> <a href="https://t.co/c5ybLJjGE6">pic.twitter.com/c5ybLJjGE6</a></p>&mdash; Brisbane Bullets (@BrisbaneBullets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1506936877492092928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Who needs to be?

Clint Steindl – Talk about exploiting defences, Clint can make anyone look silly if given the slightest space. The Tassie skipper has averaged 17.3ppg at 59 per cent in his past three games, and in Perth made big plays in moments when his team’s offence was stalling. He’s only shot 3/11 against Brisbane this year, and the JJs need his hot form to continue.

Anthony Drmic – Defensively, the Bullets need Drmic to take on the job of blocking Steindl’s access to stagger screens and take away his space on catches. When Drim is on song with his defensive intensity, Brisbane are a better team, and they’ll need him aggressive in transition, given their struggles to score against Tassie’s half-court D without Sobey.


Who’s statting up?

 - In the season series against the JackJumpers, Brisbane are +24 in Nathan Sobey’s 54 minutes on court, compared to -25 in the other 31 minutes

 - In the past two games, the Bullets have given up 29 three-point baskets at 46 per cent. Across the rest of the season they're allowing 9 triples per night at 32 per cent

 - Since Will Magnay’s injury, Tasmania have averaged 12 three-point makes at 36 per cent, up from 8.6 triples at 29 per cent before his injury

 - The JackJumpers gave up 87.4ppg in the first five games after Magnay’s injury, but have reduced that to 76.4ppg in the past five games, keeping four of the five opponents below their season average


Who’s matching up?

Jason Cadee v Josh Magette – When you talk about underrated, high IQ point guards, you might as well be talking about this pair. Cadee was superb against New Zealand with 11 points and 11 assists as he masterminded their offence. In Brisbane wins this season he’s averaged 7.3 dimes. Magette didn’t have a great statline in Perth, but he had just one turnover in 35 minutes as he owned the tempo and made sure the Cats were starved of open-court scores.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Work. Rate. <br>JA finishes some nice ball movement?<br><br>Don&#39;t miss this one, we&#39;re LIVE on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FEARTHESTING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FEARTHESTING</a> <a href="https://t.co/wzTaVHIUf3">pic.twitter.com/wzTaVHIUf3</a></p>&mdash; Tasmania JackJumpers ? (@JackJumpers) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackJumpers/status/1506961196901011459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Who’s talking the talk?

They say the harder you work, the luckier you get, and Brisbane’s astonishing comeback win over the Breakers was evidence of that.

“Credit to the boys for continuing to fight and fight and fight and put themselves into a position to win the game at the end,” coach James Duncan said.

“It's been a crazy season, we've experienced some of those situations where you're just a little bit unlucky, and tonight luck was on our side.”

No one typifies hard work at the Bullets more than Deng Deng and Anthony Drmic, so it was fitting they were involved in the stunning final play.

Deng’s involvement in that match-winner has been undersold. With the Bullets committing two defenders to deny Peyton Siva, Deng was left to deal with both Tom Abercrombie and Yanni Wetzell at half-court.

While he initially covered Abercrombie, who was closer to the ball, he made an excellent read on Will McDowell-White’s long pass and came up with a trademark hustle play at the most important moment.

“He just brings that defensive energy, tipped balls, aggressive on-ball defence, grabbing the d-rebounds, obviously at the end there he stole the ball and made a pretty smart decision kicking it ahead to Drim,” Duncan said.

“That’s been his role and he’s dived into that role and he’s been excelling at that.”


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Absolute SCENES in the NBL ???<br><br>? <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBL</a> <a href="https://t.co/RaYlJhHPzk">pic.twitter.com/RaYlJhHPzk</a></p>&mdash; FIBA (@FIBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/FIBA/status/1506959381312806919?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


His partner-in-crime off the bench has been Drmic, whose past two games have produced 29 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 o-boards and 3 steals, while shooting 5/12 from long range.

“Even last game with Drim, he played so hard,” Duncan said.

“Last game he left it all on the floor asking for subs a couple of times because he as so exhausted. We didn’t get rewarded last game but this game it was basically the same thing and we did get rewarded.”

No one works harder than the JackJumpers, and they’ve earned every bit of luck they’ve had in their impressive debut season.

On Friday in Perth it was an ankle tweak that kept Vic Law sidelined for 10 minutes, and a late out-of-bounds that went Tassie’s way despite careering off Matt Kenyon’s hand.

But more so it was the relentless effort that allowed the JJs to win in Perth despite shooting 39 per cent from the floor, their 18 offensive rebounds and only 4 turnovers the keys to the W.

“These guys never cease to amaze me, they just continue to buy in to everything we’re doing, building a tremendous culture and laying a great foundation, just a lot of grit and determination,” coach Scott Roth said.

“They battle, they fight, they're all for each other and it’s fun to be a part of. We’re humbled, but we’re still hungry, we have seven more games and we will see what we can do.”



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">CLUTCH. <a href="https://t.co/l7CmTPNXgf">pic.twitter.com/l7CmTPNXgf</a></p>&mdash; Tasmania JackJumpers ? (@JackJumpers) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackJumpers/status/1506970365767008264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


It was sweet redemption for the worst display in the club’s history just six days earlier in Launceston.

“We didn’t think we competed very well in the Illawarra game, one of the few games we didn’t at least rise to a level of competitiveness, and that was our number one priority in this game,” Roth said.

They will be tested by a Brisbane team which has gone to small-ball mode with Deng’s improved form, and will try to speed the usually-calculated JackJumpers up, as they did masterfully in their 94-84 Round 13 win at the Armoury.

“We had a hard time with them last time when we made this trip across,” Roth said.

“Brisbane did a number on us last time up there, we got into a game that wasn’t a great game for us in general but we stayed competitive.”

That was with Nathan Sobey making a big difference, and without their star playmaker against a super-consistent JackJumpers team, Brisbane need to bring the defensive pressure from tip-off.

On Thursday, Yanni Wetzell rolled to the basket with impunity as the Breakers ran up 57 points in the first half, and the Bullets can’t wait for some choice words from Duncan at the break before commtting to defending this time.

“Take things personally,” Duncan said of his message.

“Know who you’re guarding, sit down and guard and contest shots. They still shot the ball really well in the second half but we turned it up a little bit more to contest some of those shots and put them in positions to not feel as comfortable as they were in the first half, and we were able to rebound the ball and get out and put some points on the board.”