![Sean McDonald. Picture by Rod Thompson Sean McDonald. Picture by Rod Thompson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/198551236/0e9e464f-70a4-4cf6-8b8f-2e6d2fd853c9.jpg/r0_23_5184_3894_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Tasmania JackJumpers coach Scott Roth questioned NBL scheduling but also called for a reality check after his team racked up a record winning margin against travel-weary Adelaide.
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Just two days after going down to the New Zealand Breakers in Auckland, the 36ers emerged from back-to-back flights to hand their hosts a couple of club records at a sold-out Derwent Entertainment Centre.
The 94-59 win represented the JackJumpers' largest victory margin (35 points) while Adelaide's total was the equal-lowest by an opponent.
While delighted to see his team climb to second on the ladder, Roth admitted the scheduling had raised a few eyebrows.
"We went from Perth to New Zealand - there's some things that to me don't make a lot of sense but it's just how the league is rolling out the schedules and everyone has to deal with it," he said.
"They had a really tough schedule coming over here to play from New Zealand and play the next day after they landed. So credit to our guys but 59 is probably a little bit out of the ballpark from the norm. We'd love to do that every night but it's virtually impossible.
"At some point or another your travel is not going to be ideal and (legendary NBA coach) Don Nelson used to say 'You've got to play them all - you've got to show up and play'. The fans don't care about any of that. They want to go out and see a product on the floor, they don't care if you came in that day, you have to go play hard.
"And the reality is these guys are only playing 15-20 minutes, some guys seven minutes, eight minutes, a couple of them maybe 30, and if that's your job to play 30 minutes during the course of the day, that's a heck of a job."
An Adelaide side that had lost their last 10 first halves were also second best in all four quarters as the JackJumpers enjoyed the rarity of having twice their opponents' score for periods of the second half.
They moved to 8-5 behind only Melbourne United (10-2) as Jack McVeigh (14 points at 85 per cent from the field) provided the energy and Milton Doyle the scoring (20 points).
"I think we were up by about 20 at half-time so to still win the third quarter was a good sign for us," Roth added.
"We kept on talking about being disciplined in the second half and making sure we weren't playing the score.
!["That's a heck of a job." Scott Roth was at his straight-talking best after the latest JackJumpers' win. Picture by Paul Scambler "That's a heck of a job." Scott Roth was at his straight-talking best after the latest JackJumpers' win. Picture by Paul Scambler](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/198551236/0b6a2a29-8395-4969-87fb-b3a2d5e12e08.jpg/r0_275_5388_3388_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"A good all-round performance and great to be back here after five weeks. We have a lot of good things happening but a long, long way to go."
Roth heaped praise on emerging guard Sean Macdonald who contributed 15 points in 21:35 gametime.
"He's been fantastic. People forget he's a developmental player, he's not a roster player. He is our next star. He is our guy that we have invested a lot of time and energy in and he continues to grow. I love the work that he's been doing and he was rewarded with a really good game.
"He just continues to have these weekly improvements, the guys love playing with him and rightfully so."
McDonald cracked a beaming smile as his coach kept the compliments coming in the post-match press conference.
"It's super fun when you're up big like that - it feels like a little bit of the pressure's off," said the 23-year-old after his 53rd NBL appearance.
"Last time we played them we gave up the lead that we had and we made an emphasis that if we got in front we'd got to stick it out and keep playing the right way.
"We're blessed, we get to play this game that we love for a living."
The JackJumpers have a week's break before they also face a flight across the Tasman with their next fixture away to the Breakers on Saturday.