Roth unsure if JackJumpers can right ship in six games

The Tasmania JackJumpers only have six games remaining this NBL season and coach Scott Roth isn’t sure if they are going to be able to stop being their own worst enemy and still make a meaningful impact.

The JackJumpers almost got out of jail at MyState Bank Arena on Friday night coming back from 12 points down with three minutes remaining against the Illawarra Hawks in what ended up a double overtime classic.

Milton Doyle hit four three-pointers firstly to get the game to overtime and then to start the first extra period. Jack McVeigh hit some big shots and then Will Magnay opened the second overtime with a huge block on Sam Froling and a three-point play up the other end.

However, all three would soon be fouled out and the Hawks won 108-107 win with a lot of the problems from Tasmania emphasised throughout the night.

The JackJumpers have now lost six of their last eight games to only be clinging to third position with an 11-11 record.

The JackJumpers only shot 40 per cent from the field, 29 per cent from three and 64 at the foul line, they were outrebounded by Illawarra by 10, they conceded 60 points in the paint and sent the Hawks to the foul line 35 times.

They are just some of the areas of concern for Roth with his team just having six games left over the next month to lock away a third successive playoff appearance.

"I believe in our group but whether or not we can solve it in six games, to be quite honest I have no idea," Roth said.

"It's really up to the players in some of these areas and we can't control the fouls, and the foul discipline we talk about continuously and the next thing that opens up is that we can't make foul shots all of a sudden.

"You're putting out one fire and then another one starts, and sometimes we're our biggest enemy and winning in crunch time is an art. It's a thing that's ingrained in people that win and you just figure out ways to get across the line, and we haven’t been able to do that.

"I don't know what these last six games hold, we might not win another game for all I know or we might be able to win six in-a-row. If we're lucky enough to get into these playoffs, someone's going to be probably quite scared to play us if we ever get our act together."

While the first two seasons have gone swimmingly for the JackJumpers starting with a grand final appearance upon entering the NBL, and then again reaching the semi finals last season.

However, Roth feels in the bigger picture their struggles right now might not be a bad thing.

"This adversity, I think, is actually really wonderful for the organisation and the franchise because I don’t want to say the first two seasons have been easy, but we've had really good success," Roth said.

"This is probably more of a reality of where we are and what we're trying to do, and the one thing I do love about the group in general is that our core values and culture remains the same.

"The guys show up for work every single day and do the right things, and have really high character. We're just not getting results."