The non-negotiable behind Tasmania's rise

They may have been flying under the radar through the first few rounds of the Hungry Jack’s NBL27 Season, but not anymore.

At the end of Round 4, the Tasmania JackJumpers are arguably the form team of the NBL, sitting at 4-1 after three straight wins.

This is despite the League’s biggest injury list, which currently includes Bryce Hamilton, Majok Deng and Ben Ayre.

On Monday’s episode of NBL Overtime, 2001 NBL champion Damon Lowery praised JackJumpers coach Scott Roth as the reason for Tasmania’s strong start.

“Scott Roth takes a lot of players that look like they could be out of the League,” Lowery said.

“Anthony Drmic came in, and even the younger guys like Biwali Bayles and Kody Stattmann are there now.

“Those guys come in going, man, if I mess this one up, I might be out of the League, so they’re already coming in with the right attitude.

“Scott Roth already has a no-DH (d***head) policy; he ain’t recruiting that type of player.

“He’s got the structure in place, and there’s a foundation in Tasmania.

“That’s non-negotiable. You come here, you’re going to do the right thing.

“We don’t have any loose cannons, anybody beating their own chest.

“What surprises me most is that I didn’t know how it was gonna work [with] Taran Armstrong. He is an up-tempo, creative, flashy guy, and [I was unsure] how he was going to fit into the Jackie way.

“They both have morphed a little bit. Scott Roth’s given him more freedom, and Taran Armstrong is picking his spots. It looks like a match made in heaven.

“Here’s the key [though]. He [Roth] has got great [pieces] at the local spots, the key spots, the point guard, the centre, and a backup centre in Ben Gold, who can step out and stretch the floor.

“That means you can now take a swing on your imports.

“[They’ve] got Dakota Mathias, David Johnson and Bryce Hamilton. I mean, come on, he’s loaded.

“When Majok Deng comes back, this team's got so much firepower, it’s unbelievable.”

Echoing Lowery’s sentiments was fellow Overtime panellist Felix Von Hofe.

“He [Roth] has embodied this; it’s us against them [mentality since he’s arrived],” Von Hofe said.

“It is for the Island.

“For someone who is an American that’s come over here, he learnt very quickly that the mainland makes fun of Tasmania.

“He embraced that into their culture; [they’ve] hit the jackpot with this guy.”

Tasmania will look to continue their strong start to NBL27 on Friday when they host Adelaide from 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.