Magnay signals the start of Tassie Time
Up until now, the narrative of the Tasmania JackJumpers being a legitimate contender was largely overblown.
Sure, they've looked solid in stretches. They picked up a few quality wins, but even Scott Roth had the awareness to admit that their defence wasn't close to being good enough to make any sort of deep playoff run.
Enter Will Magnay.
We knew that, when the Australian big man would re-enter the lineup after an off-season foot injury, he would bolster the JackJumpers on the defensive end, but the level at which he's done that has been pretty astonishing.
It's worth a caveat that the five games Magnay has played in have been against the Adelaide 36ers, New Zealand Breakers, Cairns Taipans, Adelaide again, and then New Zealand again; all bottom-four teams. Still, winning consistently in the NBL isn't easy, so it's not fair to completely diminish those games, where Magnay has helped the team shift its identity back to where we expected it to be when the season began.
In the five games Magnay has played, the JackJumpers are No. 1 in defence (allowing 100.6 points per 100 possessions; 11.3 points better than the league average) and No. 3 in offence (115.9 points per 100 possessions). In that stretch, they lead the NBL in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage. Magnay had one game to ease himself back into playing, but has since been elite on both ends: as a rim protector, where he leads the league in block percentage (8.4); and as a second shot creator, pulling down an NBL-leading 36.8% of available offensive rebounds.
Is the high, high level form of Magnay and the JackJumpers trending in the right direction defensively enough to elevate them into the title conversation? Probably, though it'd be good to see those trends continue against better quality competition.
This round will be extremely telling, because we'll get to see them go up against play-in level competition: a game in Perth, before the JackJumpers host the Sydney Kings. The availability of Milton Doyle -- he's been back in the U.S. for family reasons -- may delay our opportunity to see some of those indicators, but here's hoping Until then, we've known that the JackJumpers' floor would be at a really healthy level, but we're seeing a really good argument that a healthy, thriving Magnay is what lifts their ceiling to a level not many other teams around the league can reach.
Goorj on the road
This one's just a quick note.
Brian Goorjian, head coach of the Australian Boomers, is currently in the U.S. with the intention of touching base with all of the NBA-based national team players.
The 2024 Paris Olympics are set to take place in the middle of next year, and Goorjian has made it clear that this will be his last campaign with the Boomers. Because this is his last dance, he's been focusing the entirety of his time and efforts to the Boomers program, instead of seeking a professional gig for this season.
Of note, and something Goorjian has kept a close eye on: the extended roles, respectively, of Danté Exum in Dallas and Duop Reath in Portland.
What to make of Abdel Nader to South East Melbourne
The South East Melbourne Phoenix didn't wait too long to replace Will Cummings, bringing in former NBA wing, Abdel Nader, for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
The desire to move on from Cummings -- he didn't fulfil some off-court requirements, sources told ESPN -- presented a unique opportunity for Tommy Greer and co. With the season-ending injury to Craig Moller, the Phoenix were suddenly quite thin on the wing, so allowed the Phoenix to fill that spot with an American.
After a very quick search, that ended up being Nader, a 6'5 wing who most recently played for the Phoenix Suns. In theory, that sounds great, but his last game with the Suns was at the end of November back in 2021. The management of a knee injury has meant Nader's gone more than two whole years without stepping foot in a professional basketball game.
Getting a high quality import at this time of year isn't easy. Those who are available usually have some sort of red flag, whether it's character issues, injury concerns, or, like in this case, very little game experience in the lead-up. Does this feel like a slightly quick trigger? Sure, but the reality is there just isn't much out there in terms of talent.
Ahead of this NBA season, Nader had workouts with the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves, and has since been training with Baskets Oldenburg in Germany. Oldenburg was prepared to extend a contract to Nader, sources said, but he opted against it. Instead, he's set to arrive in Melbourne on Thursday, and could well suit up for the Phoenix for their Saturday game against the Illawarra Hawks.
It'll be interesting to track what Nader brings to the table for the Phoenix, and how long it takes for him to get his feet under him. The 30-year-old is a professional scorer, so he should definitely help the Phoenix on that end of the floor. How he looks in other areas of the game, and how his body holds up, are the things that are more unknown at this point.
Dejan Vasiljevic fined
This seemed inevitable.
We found out last week that Basketball Australia's Integrity Unit had asked for a 'please explain' to Adelaide 36ers guard, Dejan Vasiljevic, for comments made following his team's loss to the Breakers last week.
The comments were made in an interview with the broadcast, and were critical of the NBL's officiating. While the interview never actually went to air, Basketball Australia was made aware that the comments were made and were forced to act in some way.
ESPN obtained a copy of the interview, which we've transcribed here.
"Hopefully the referees can even this game out a little bit," Vasiljevic said.
"I actually agree with Mody... 16-to-5; if I'm a coach, I'm gonna go get teched as well. I'm probably gonna get fined for this, right? There's so much inconsistency with the referees, right? Chris Reid, there's a lot of respect there but, the other two? I don't know, man. I'm not gonna complain. We fouled. They fouled. But, again, there's so much inconsistency; sometimes that can turn the momentum of the game. NBL, I hope you're watching. I'm (gonna) cop a fine. The refereeing is terrible, but I'm not gonna take away from the Breakers getting a win."
For the comments, Vasiljevic received a $4000 fine - of which $3000 is suspended for 12 months - for breaching the Basketball Australia Code of Conduct.
My favourite plays of the week
There aren't many players in the NBL with the physical profile and athleticism to get from the three-point line to the rim without a dribble, but Alex Toohey is one of them.
We've seen a few of these bully ball type steals from Jaylin Galloway this season, but this one on Patrick Miller - to seal the win - was particularly impressive.
Chris Goulding really is the league's best game-breaker. This six-point possession was the beginning of the end for the Bullets.
