‘Not a very good coach’: I’m more a mentor, says Jackies leader Scott Roth

In an insight into how he wants the culture to be strongly player-driven, Roth said he sees himself more as a mentor and man manager, despite claiming the coach of the year award after guiding the JackJumpers to the grand final series in the franchise’s first season in 2021-22.

Tasmania held on for a much-needed two-point win over Brisbane in Launceston last week, improving their record to 5-4 and snapping a two-game losing streak.

Roth was asked at Thursday’s media conference whether missed shots from the Bullets down the stretch were good luck or good management, he replied: “I think it’s both.”

“I don’t take any credit. I’m not a very good coach, to be honest with you.

“I don’t credit myself as a coach, I don’t rate myself as a coach, I don’t see myself as a coach. I see myself as a mentor.

“From my coaching standpoint I’m quite humble about where I’m at, and what I do. Coaching isn’t one of my strengths, managing people is my strength, seeing how the game is played out at the end of the day and trusting these guys to do the right thing.

“Some of it is luck - they missed some open shots - some is the grit and grind to not give in.”

The win over Brisbane was vital to steady the ship, but Roth said the side still is a long way off rectifying their issues in defence, a pillar they’ve based their strong first two seasons in the league around.

Tasmania will play at Adelaide on Thursday, where the 36ers will look to respond after a 3-6 start to the season.

The JackJumpers’ defensive issues will be boosted by the return of Will Magnay, who will suit up for the first time this season after passing a fitness test on a long term foot injury on Friday.

“We have a long way to go in that area (defence). We have a lot of undisciplined fouls and a lot of unnecessary gambles, and we’ll continue to try and solve some of those,” Roth said. “Until we get that under control, we’re a long way away from where we need to be.

“Every team has a style on how they play and for us it’s being up and in, making teams uncomfortable. When you do that you’re going to create some fouls and put pressure on them. “We haven’t had teams turn the ball over as much as they have in the past, we haven’t rebounded as well as we have in the past. And our undisciplined fouls at the wrong time, those points start to add up.”

JackJumpers skipper Clint Steindl will play his 300th game on Saturday, and Roth said it was a “no brainer” to finally convince him to leave Perth.

“When I took this job he was one of the guys who was at the top of my list, because I just thought he’d drive culture for all the right reasons,” he said.

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“How he carries himself on and off the floor, his professionalism, they were all huge factors why I wanted him with me.

“It was also a chance to get out of Perth and grow, and become our captain. It was a no brainer, it was hard to get him out of Perth though.”

The Adelaide-Tasmania clash tips off at 8pm AEDT.

Originally published as ‘Not a very good coach’: I’m more a mentor, says Jackies leader Scott Roth