How Ted Lasso inspired JackJumpers' controversial comeback

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Controversy has taken the shine off an incredible comeback win for the Tasmania JackJumpers, who overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to record a 96-91 victory over the South East Melbourne Phoenix at MyState Bank Arena.

Tasmania seemed headed for an improbable win in their season opener after David Johnson ($232,900)'s second-half eruption before a late steal from Phoenix import D'Shawn Schwartz ($277,000) led to a disruptor foul call, formerly an unsportsmanlike foul, giving the visitors two free throws to tie the game and possession.

But confusion took over the situation as Phoenix's Skylar Mays ($277,000) tried to take the free throws instead of Schwartz, leading to the shot being taken off South East Melbourne and possession given back to the JackJumpers – much to the pleasure of the packed My State Bank Arena.

The overturned call led to a Nick Marshall floater, putting the JackJumpers up by four, which proved too much for Josh King's side, who were in the second game of a road trip after beating the Perth Wildcats on Saturday.

Johnson, who finished with 26 points, six rebounds, and six assists, said coach Scott Roth's message was Ted Lasso-esque when all seemed lost for the home side.

"Just believe," he said in the post-game press conference.

“I don’t think anyone in the locker room doubted that we were going to at least compete until the end of this game. We competed until the last couple of minutes, and then it was kind of, ‘Let’s see what happens from there’.”

Tasmania's fightback came after an Angus Glover ($191,700) three-point barrage in the first half.

Phoenix (1-1) head coach Josh King felt the overturned call didn’t decide the result, but it was “confusing.”

“It was very confusing,” King said.

“I’ve never seen it before. I have to get some clarity behind it.

“DeShawn got fouled. The way I understood it, they said it was our ball, with two shots and the ball. I think Skylar thought anybody could shoot because it was an unsportsmanlike foul and we were getting the ball back.

“But when Skylar went to the line, it wiped out everything. We didn’t get to shoot the shots – or he did shoot the shot, sorry – but it wiped out everything.

“I don’t think they made it very clear that we were going to get the ball back. We were still trying to figure out whether we were getting the ball back, so it was a confusing situation.

“It was unfortunate, but at the end of the day, that had nothing to do with the final result. You don’t ever want to put your team in a situation where you have to rely on a play like that.

“That’s not what decided the game at all.”

JackJumpers head coach Scott Roth said Tasmania was still searching for its rhythm after a tough preseason.

“We haven’t had a lot of games, so I think we just don’t have the rhythm of playing five-on-five right now,” Roth revealed.

“We’re a long way off. We’re a work in progress.

“Having reps, conditioning and all those things we’ve been missing – I think in the second half we got our wind and settled a little bit. Things calmed down a bit.

“DJ made some hell of plays, but everyone chipped in where they had to. I think it was more of a settling thing in the second half and taking away the three as much as we possibly could.

“I think we held them to 39 in the second half, which is obviously a good credit to our guys.”

American import Johnson had 26 points in 26 minutes on a red-hot 10-for-15, including 3-for-7 from downtown. He added six rebounds, six assists and was +14.

“Just staying aggressive and playing off my teammates,” Johnson said.

“Kind of just playing with the flow of the game and taking advantage of opportunities when they were provided.

“It’s (a) huge (win), considering what we’ve gone through behind the scenes with players going down early on.

“You kind of learn a little bit about yourself as well, and it makes you excited because we know what we’re missing.

"We’re using this to get our feet wet a little bit and keep pushing.”

What you need to know

• Tasmania JackJumpers beat South East Melbourne Phoenix 96-91 at MyState Bank Arena in NBL27 Round 1.
• Tasmania won two of the four quarters, 15-24, 23-28, 36-22 and 22-17, and trailed by 16 in the second before levelling the game at the last change.
• David Johnson scored 26 off the bench with six rebounds and six assists, and Angus Glover top-scored for the Phoenix with 21, also off the bench.
• South East Melbourne took 36 three-pointers and made 13. Tasmania took 21 and made eight, and won it inside the arc instead, 27-from-45 to 19-from-40.
• Jordan Hunter fouled out at 2:12 of the fourth with the scores level at 86-86, and Tasmania led from the two free throws that followed and were never caught.
• The last 32 seconds produced both of the foul classifications new to NBL27, a disruptive foul at 0:32 and a Category One technical at 0:03.

Tasmania JackJumpers

• David Johnson ($232,900) top-scored with 26 points, six rebounds and six assists off the bench on 10-from-15, including 3-from-7 from three.
• Taran Armstrong ($304,700) scored 19 on 8-from-13 with three assists, and committed no fouls and no turnovers in 32 minutes.
• Will Magnay ($269,300) had 14 points and six assists on 3-from-4 and a perfect 8-from-8 at the line, with a match-high plus-16.
• Dakota Mathias ($145,200) also had 14, on 5-from-10 including 3-from-5 from deep, with six rebounds and three assists in a match-high 35 minutes.
• Nick Marshall ($203,400) scored 10 on 4-from-8 with three rebounds and three assists.
• Majok Deng ($214,500) scored six on 2-from-9 and was minus-14, the equal-worst mark in the game.
• Ben Gold ($69,000) blocked three shots off the bench, three of Tasmania's five, and added five points and four rebounds.
• Nicholas Stoddart ($69,000) scored two with a rebound and a steal in 10 minutes.
• Tasmania shot 35-from-66 from the field, 8-from-21 from three and 18-from-23 at the line, with 37 rebounds, 21 assists and 10 turnovers.
• Josh Bannan, Ryley Haywood and Jed Richardson were listed and did not play.

South East Melbourne Phoenix

• Angus Glover ($191,700) led the Phoenix with 21 points off the bench on 8-from-15, including 5-from-11 from three, and had 16 of them by half-time.
• Skylar Mays ($277,000) scored 18 on 5-from-14 with 4-from-9 from deep and 4-from-4 at the line, plus six rebounds.
• D'Shawn Schwartz ($277,000) had 12 points and five rebounds on 4-from-10, and stole the ball from Marshall with 32 seconds left.
• Dash Daniels ($115,000) scored 11 on 5-from-8 with four assists and three rebounds.
• Jordan Hunter ($224,800) had nine points and five rebounds in under 12 minutes and fouled out, the only player in the game disqualified.
• Yannis Morin ($277,000) scored seven with five rebounds and a block, and his tip-in with three seconds left was the Phoenix's last score.
• Akech Aliir ($125,300) scored five from 5-from-6 at the line with four rebounds and two assists.
• Tanner Krebs ($150,300) scored four on 1-from-8, including 0-from-5 from three.
• Hunter Goodrick ($69,000) pulled six rebounds in under eight minutes and scored two.
• Daniel Foster ($75,600) had three assists and two points in just under 15 minutes.
• South East Melbourne shot 32-from-76 from the field, 13-from-36 from three and 14-from-19 at the line, with 44 rebounds, 15 assists and 11 turnovers.
• Sam Davidson and Patrick Ryan were listed and did not play.