Roth Unsold on JackJumpers/Kings Rivalry

By Dan Woods - NBL Media

Tasmania JackJumpers head coach Scott Roth has quelled the talk of an emerging rivalry with the Sydney Kings, declaring he “couldn’t care less about the other nine teams” ahead of the upcoming NBL Blitz.

The JackJumpers fell to the Kings in three games during last year’s grand final series, and the Kings are utilising the motto ‘defend the crown’ heading into NBL23 – a tagline that’s eerily similar to the JackJumpers’ famous ‘defend the island’ slogan.

The two sides will meet for the first time since last year’s epic series on day two of the Blitz, locking horns at 5pm on Saturday, September 17^th.

“I don’t really care about Sydney or the other nine teams,” Roth said. “They’re not my priority and I don’t think like that to be honest. I just think about the JackJumpers and our process of going week to week, and who we play is who we play.

“We’re here to defend the island, and I think one of the things I’ve got a kick of in the last few months is hearing comments about other teams and what they’re doing with culture and this and that, and maybe they’re piggy-backing off of some of the things we had success with here.

“That’s fine or not, but for me it’s just about us going and competing. For me, again, I couldn’t care less about these other nine teams, I don’t know what the season looks like or how many games we’re going to be able to win or lose or what’s going to be the process other than we’ll put a team out that’s very competitive and fiery.”

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One of Tasmania’s most fiery and competitive players is set to make his return to the court in the Blitz, with Jack McVeigh cleared to take part after overcoming a shoulder injury he picked up while on Boomers duty.

Roth says he’s not going to rush impending return to the side.

“Three months is a long time of not really playing basketball. I told him ‘you can’t eat an elephant in one bite, you’re going to have to take small bites of this. It might not be on the time you want to be back, it might be on three or four weeks down the road before you really feel like you’ve got your feet underneath you’,” Roth said.

“I’m hoping to maybe get 15-20 minutes out of him in the first game, but it’s quite different to running around in practice than playing in a game.

"Him just getting his wind back under him, his legs back under him, and then playing with some of our guys that he hasn’t been playing with [is priority]. The reality is he hasn’t been playing basketball in three months. To get him up and running and feeling comfortable in the next week is important.

“He’s been quite antsy on the sideline, and just to hold him back to get to this week to where we felt he could just go and practice full [has been tough]. I’m happy for him to be back, he’s excited to be back and now it’s just trying to reincorporate him [into the rotation].”

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The forced absences of Will Magnay, Sam McDaniel and Clint Steindl will afford opportunities to a number of young JackJumpers players who might otherwise have spent most of the Blitz riding the bench.

Coming into the side as an injury replacement player for the aforementioned Steindl, Isaac White is one of those players who’s primed for a larger than seen role in the early stages of the season.

Roth says the way White has bought into the JackJumpers culture has been a big positive.

“He's (White) been fantastic with us,” Roth said. “He’s blended in great with the group. He’s another good culture guy that just jumped on board right away.

“[He] loves being in Tasmania, [he’s] very competitive and a nice little fill-in for Clint at this point.

“Hopefully we’ll keep him around for a while but he’s done a really good job for us.”