'It's a marathon': Jackies not skipping steps despite hot start

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Tasmania JackJumpers coach Scott Roth says noise around the team's hot start, including MVP conversations surrounding star duo in Taran Armstrong and Will Magnay, was just chatter after establishing themselves at the top of the NBL27 ladder with a dominant win over the Brisbane Bullets.

The JackJumpers easily dismantled a Bullets team missing Tyrell Harrison, Jacob Holt, Arnas Velicka and Sam McDaniel 106-85 at MyState Bank Arena in their Ignite Cup clash, winning all four quarters along the way despite the visitors debuting former NBA point guard Raul Neto.

All five Tasmanian starters finished with double figures, led by Josh Bannan with 22 points as well as nine rebounds and five assists, while David Johnson continues to firm as a Sixth Man of the Year favourite after 17 points and going 3-from-5 off the bench.

The victory concludes three games in six days for the JackJumpers, who won two of three in that stretch following a loss to the Adelaide 36ers, and takes Roth's side to 6-2 to start their season but the championship coach insists his group weren't getting ahead of themselves.

"It doesn't really matter for us because we've been in both positions of being behind in the ladder and up on the ladder and we've been in the middle of it all," Roth said in the post-game press conference.

"We are very much process-driven. It is day-to-day stuff where there's no worrying about the destination.

"It is waking up every single day and showing up and making sure these guys are accountable to each other, and we'll just start our process again over on Friday when we get back in the gym and that's just how we think.

"They know very well I don't look at the ladder. I don't care about the ladder until the last game or two of the season, you'll be where you're supposed to be by that point.

"But if you're trying to skip steps or look down the road or trying to think, I'm going to win two or three games here and then if we lose that one, you're messing with the basketball gods, in my opinion."

As for chatter around Magnay and Armstrong's candidacy for the league's MVP, Roth said any team would be happy to have the star duo on their side.

"Again, it's just chatter, it's just white noise at the end of the day and it's so early in the seasonm there's so much to unfold here," he said.

"Like I've said before, this is a marathon, it's not a sprint, and that (talk) is just for people to write and drum up clicks."

In his first trip to MyState Bank Arena as an NBL head coach, considering the JackJumpers weren't in the league during his stint with the Sydney Kings, Brisbane coach Will Weaver said the experience for some of his young Bullets would be invaluable, especially for rookie big man Harry Rouhliadeff who went head-to-head with Magnay.

"I mean, I remember Will Magnay coming into the lineup for the Brisbane Bullets against Andrew Bogut and giving Bogues the business," Weaver said.

"This is the journey that talented guys that are coming back for their first year in the NBL have is that you play great and you learn or you play bad and you learn and you win or you learn and you lose and you learn.

"Harry's one of the best learners I've ever been around. The reason he started is because as a coaching staff, we had the most confidence in his ability to execute a game plan that was different than the game plans that we've had over the beginning of our year.

"Even despite the injuries to Sam McDaniel and Taine, five or six guys out at a time means that you got to change some things, and so one thing about Harry is every time I go back and watch the film, I see him do the hard details that almost certainly no fans or girlfriends or agents notice. We notice it.

"That's why he continues to earn more minutes and why he's got a really bright future."

Weaver was also impressed with Neto's Bullets debut and despite getting off an international flight less than two days ago, said the former Utah Jazz player looked at him like he "kicked his dog" every time he subbed him out.

Max Mackinnon led the way for the Bullets once again with 21 points.

What you need to know

• The Tasmania JackJumpers beat the Brisbane Bullets 106-85 at MyState Bank Arena in Round 6 of NBL27.
• Tasmania won all four quarters, 22-15, 34-29, 28-20 and 22-21, leading 56-44 at half-time and 84-64 at the last change.
• Josh Bannan ($317,500) top-scored with 22 points and nine rebounds on 8-from-13, and Max Mackinnon ($200,000) led Brisbane with 21 on 8-from-16, including 4-from-8 from three.
• Brisbane took 81 shots and made 34. Tasmania took 66 and made 38, with assists on 28 of them.
• Tasmania made 11 of 22 threes and 19 of 27 free throws. Brisbane made eight of 29 and nine of 12, a 19-point gap from the arc and the line in a 21-point game.

Tasmania JackJumpers

• Josh Bannan ($317,500) top-scored with 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists on 8-from-13, including 6-from-8 at the line.
• Taran Armstrong ($304,700) added 19 points and six assists on 8-from-11.
• David Johnson ($232,900) scored 17 points off the bench in 24 minutes on 7-from-12, including 3-from-5 from three.
• Dakota Mathias ($145,200) had 16 points and six assists on 5-from-10, including 3-from-6 from three, in a team-high 35 minutes.
• Will Magnay ($269,300) had 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists on 4-from-7, including 4-from-6 at the line.
• Nick Marshall ($203,400) scored 12 points on 4-from-8, including 3-from-5 from three.
• Ben Gold ($69,000) added eight points and four rebounds on 2-from-3 in 22 minutes off the bench.
• Tasmania shot 38-from-66 from the field, 11-from-22 from three and 19-from-27 at the line, with 43 rebounds, 28 assists and 13 turnovers.

Brisbane Bullets

• Max Mackinnon ($200,000) top-scored with 21 points on 8-from-16, including 4-from-8 from three.
• Nate Hinton ($277,000) added 13 points and five assists on 6-from-14.
• Jaylin Williams ($277,000) had 10 points and three assists on 5-from-11 in a team-high 29 minutes.
• Raul Neto ($277,000) scored nine points with six assists on 4-from-4 in 14 minutes off the bench.
• Lat Mayen ($69,000) had nine points and three offensive rebounds on 4-from-7 off the bench.
• Taine Murray ($99,700) scored eight points on 3-from-7 off the bench.
• Mawot Mag ($73,300) had six points on 1-from-2, including 4-from-4 at the line, off the bench.
• Brisbane shot 34-from-81 from the field, 8-from-29 from three and 9-from-12 at the line, with 35 rebounds, 18 assists and 12 turnovers.