He first spied Matt Kenyon as part of the Australian side against New Zealand in the early stages of 2021.

With his defensive intensity and rangy athleticism, the player, who had trained the LA Clippers and Chicago Bulls, "jumped off the page" to the JackJumpers' head coach.

After being promising early in his NBL career, Roth saw a player who had been lost in the system and needed some faith.

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The perfect addition to a squad that the 58-year-old described as being in underdogs in "proving mode" given their respective careers so far.

Those underdogs just scored a heck of a win over the Sydney Kings 77-70.

From the sample size of the season, there are two forms of the NBL's newest franchise when they hit the hardwood.

One side opts to shoot the ball, settle for shots beyond the arc and often looks static in the paint. The other is this dynamic, high-intensity pressing unit which drives at pace to the rim and never sleeps defensively.

For a term, when Sydney marched out to a lead at the first interval, the JackJumpers appeared like the former but after the break, they flicked a switch and transformed into the latter.

Their desire to get to the rim allowed for better scoring both inside and outside the paint, and the quartet of Josh Magette (18 points), Jack McVeigh (17 points), Josh Adams (16 points) and Will Magnay (12 points) grabbed their chances.

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This is the world Roth imagined for Tasmania.

"We're living in this world that I was hoping we would live in, holding teams to somewhere in the 70s and us getting closer to the 80-point mark," he said.

The key factor was the shutdown of Sydney's attacking threat, as Jaylen Adams struggled to fire (24 points but 6-19 from the floor) and Jarell Martin (16 points but 4-12) struggled to make shots under defensive pressure.

Former Brisbane Bullet Kenyon was a man on a mission as he hustled and stymied Adams' attacking game.

"He really just locked in and had the moment to go after Jaylen Adams and stay on him, be around him and maybe frustrate him a little bit and just speed him up," Roth said.

With Melbourne United up next on Sunday, Kenyon is likely to guard the reigning champions key-scorer, Launceston-born Chris Goulding.

"Another great shooter, another great player in this league, it's really enjoyable going up against all these guys ... I look forward to it," he said.

How does he feel about the man who bought him to Tasmania?

Kenyon turns towards the JackJumpers' mentor and smiles.

"I love you too," he says.

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