JackJumpers set to reload in attack ahead of Perth Wildcats and Sydney Kings

At the post-game press conference, Roth sat and paused, before repeating, what changed?

It's not an unfair question given the JackJumpers looked in the box-seat for victory at the main interval before their odds were blown out within 10 minutes.

After a second term where the JackJumpers looked to be taking control in the match as they doubled the Taipans' points scored for the quarter, a prized away win seemed on the cards.

A term later, via the dynamism of Tahjere McCall who had the JackJumpers' defence on spin cycle in the paint and Cairns' marginally better shooting, Tasmania would have been more likely to scale a mountain than beat the Taipans at home.

With a roster constructed the way Tasmania is, it comes with certain blind spots. That is true of all teams in the league, some lack depth and others have weak spots at specific positions. For the JackJumpers' usual small-ball brigade, it seems to be offence.

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On the defensive end, Tasmania's dogmatic, seemingly never-ending willingness to press the opposition has kept them in good stead. From three games in the season, the JackJumpers have kept the opposition to 74, 83 and 69.

For a defence-first coach in Roth, that end of the court is functioning as he intends.

"We're living in the realm I want to live in which is high 60s to low 70s, [we're] holding people to defensively," he said post-game on Saturday.

"Our defensive intensity has been really, really good, we just have to continue to improve on the offensive end."

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Much was made in the pre-season about whether the JackJumpers had the perimeter shooting to be an attacking threat in the season.

The real question at the moment is whether the JackJumpers can play to their comparative advantage.

In their opening night, the JackJumpers piled on the pain for the Bullets on the fast-break, scoring 18 points to eight in the category from 17 turnovers.

Against Adelaide (six fast-break points) and Cairns (two), the JackJumpers were robbed of a team strength given they forced 18 turnovers (against Adelaide) and 21 turnovers (against Cairns).

For a small-ball team, they can live or die off this statistic. In place of the break, the JackJumpers tossed up jump shot after jump shot in Cairns that failed to stick the landing, shooting 24 of 77 from the floor and five from 35 from beyond the arc.

Against the Taipans, the visitors went to the line 14 times and in the loss to Adelaide, they visited the free-throw line 19 times.

Contrast that to the opening game against the Bullets in Hobart, the JackJumpers went to the line 31 times and hit 18, allowing allowing them an easier route.

"We settled for a lot of jump-shots which led to us not getting to the foul-line and it is what it is at the end of the day," Roth said.

"Obviously if they go in it looks brilliant and when they're not going in you need to create something else we're a small team in general so we don't have a tremendous amount of post-up threats.

"Our offence is just not there and that's my fault at the end of the day, we've spent an enormous amount of time working on defence, it has to improve."

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While the JackJumpers' away stint got off on the wrong foot, a more challenging stretch awaits as trips to Perth and Sydney loom.

The powerhouse Wildcats, armed with the dual threat of Bryce Cotton and Vic Law, plus young gun Luke Travers will present the strongest test of the JackJumpers' defensive nous so far,

The Sydney Kings at the Jungle also present a challenge with Jaylen Adams and Xavier Cooks presenting a fast and nimble one-two punch.

If the JackJumpers can start finishing off their work, attack might be their best form of defence against two potential title contenders.

"The great Don Nelson used to say you've got to play them all, so it is what it is and there's nine really good teams in this league and you've got to play them wherever they lie in the schedule," Roth said.

"We have to continue to work on our offence, this is not a sprint this will be a marathon and we continue to have to do things at a high-level, we don't have a big margin of error."

After all, Tasmania is doing the hard work, they just need to taste some novocaine once in a while.

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