Roth warns ‘porous’ Jackies they risk missing finals

The Breakers were struggling at 2-6 before the clash, and Tasmania were looking for a third straight win.

But the visitors hit their first six three-point attempts and scored far too easily in the paint in the first half to set up the win.

Not even a superb display off the bench in Will Magnay’s second game back from a long term foot injury (20 points, 6-8 FG, 8-8 FT, 12 rebounds, four blocked shots in 15 minutes) couldn’t prevent the boilover.

Roth congratulated the Breakers for playing “harder and stronger than us”, but was disappointed their defence took another step back after promising signs in previous wins over Brisbane and Adelaide.

The JackJumpers are the best ranked offensive team by some distance this season, but Roth said the season will be wasted if they don’t defend.

“Our defence continues to be quite porous and if it’s something we don’t fix we’re not going to go anywhere the group wants to go,” Roth said.

“We’re scoring at a good pace and our offense is generating points, but it’s fool’s gold at the end of the day.

“If you’re not able to defend at some kind of consistent basis you’re just going to win a game, lose two, win a game and be all over the map.

“That will lead to not making the playoffs, not finishing in the top six. it’s a fragile balance of getting those two (offense and defence) working together.”

“We’ve got a game in Cairns (on Saturday) to figure out some our goals before the break.”

The huge positive was Magnay’s performance, and the centre admitted he surprised himself with his impact at both ends of the floor.

He took five months to recover from a foot injury he suffered overseas, shortly after a long term knee issue.

Magnay said the support of the JackJumpers through the testing times was enormous for him mentally.

“My mindset right now is I’m in such a good place in Tasmania,” he said.

“They’ve wrapped their arms around me. I hurt myself in Spain and they were talking to me every day, they let me do rehab in Brisbane and trusted me to do it.

“I’m trying to be grateful for the position I’m in, the coaches, players and medical staff I have around me. I’m thrilled to be in this situation.

“I had the knee last year and I wasn’t great with my rehab early on, I learnt a lot about myself and was challenged a lot.

“With the foot, I had a new mentality it’s not the end of the world. My teammates were excited to have me back and Scott’s never lost confidence in me.”

Magnay said he was more pleased with his rebounding than his scoring. He added while four blocks was nice, it pointed to big defensive issues the team needs to rectify.

“The big thing for me right now is not to get ahead of myself. I only played 15 minutes and I was cooked,” he said.

“The shots went in and I my made my free throws, but I’m most pleased with my rebounding. “It’s something I’ve focused on coming back. We’re not the best defensive rebounding team, so that’s something I can help clean up.

“Four blocks is nice, but that’s one of those things which tells we’re getting blown by a lot. “Guards are letting guards get in the paint, they just got in the paint and did it all night.

“They played hard and killed us in there. We have to take a bit more pride one-on-one, and guard.”

Tasmania travels north to take on Cairns on Saturday, with the match tipping off at 5.30pm AEDT.

Originally published as Roth warns ‘porous’ Jackies they risk missing finals