Roth’s warning as short-handed Jackies keep winning

Seven players. Five starters past the 30-minute mark. For the second straight game, that’s all the Tasmania JackJumpers had to work with.

Their injury list reads like a who’s who of top-line talent, but time and again, Tasmania keeps defying the odds.

Friday night’s 79-77 win over the New Zealand Breakers at the Silverdome was the latest example. It improved the JackJumpers to 8-3 and kept them on top of the NBL ladder, ahead of the Sydney Kings.

Bryce Hamilton, Majok Deng and David Johnson remain sidelined, while Ben Ayre was available but didn’t take the floor. Even the seven who did play weren’t at full strength. Taran Armstrong was battling the flu, and Nick Marshall played the whole game on a sprained ankle before finally coming out in the last four minutes.

“We just had a lot of guys again just step up and thrown into difficult situations and they responded in the right way,” coach Scott Roth said.

“Again, just seven guys and just another gritty kind of effort with these guys, and the fight and the love in that locker room is real.”

Dakota Mathias was again a standout with 18 points, including 4 three-pointers. Will Magnay finished with 16 points and 3 blocks, and Josh Bannan stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists.

They weren’t alone, though. Kody Stattmann, who only joined as an injury replacement before earning a full-time spot, added 9 points off the bench and went 5/6 at the line.

Roth says his side is “running on fumes”, but they just keep getting the job done.

“I told these guys during the course of these four games that we’re not here to survive by any means. We’re here to thrive in this environment,” he said.

“I think suffering is part of sports. And if you’re able to suffer and get to the other side of that, man, the rewards down the road are significant.”

For now, the JackJumpers get a rare breather before facing the Perth Wildcats on Thursday night. They’ll go into that game sitting top of the ladder, with their best roster still ahead of them.