NBL 2024: Respected coach weighs in on awards furore
Eyebrows were raised when Sean Macdonald was voted the NBL’s Most Improved Player but the JackJumper’s coach says players and coaches see things fans and pundits don’t.
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Eyebrows were raised when Tasmania’s development player Sean Macdonald was awarded the Most Improved Player award over emergent Sydney young gun Jaylin Galloway and Brisbane’s main man in the middle Tyrell Harrison.
Many were quick to seize on Macdonald’s statistical improvement — just 1.1 points, 0.8 assists and 0.2 rebounds better than last season — as inferior to both Galloway (+5.4 points, +1.7 rebounds, +0.6 steals) and Harrison (+4.6 points, +1.8 rebounds, +0.7 blocks) after the JackJumpers guard was voted by his peers and coaches as the season’s most improved.
But his coach Scott Roth launched a defence of his 23-year-old guard, who he calls the JackJumpers’ Next Star.
“I think, for us (as coaches), we see the game slightly differently than the average fan would want to see it — and they have the right to have their opinions — but we are the ones actually seeing something maybe different to what everyone else is,” Roth said.
“When I have these votes, I think about winning, I think about, visually, guys who I see are improving, I don’t think about stats and how that’s transferring to them.
“People have seen Sean’s growth in the last three years of where he’s come from and he’s a developmental player who is contributing to winning.
“Galloway’s just as deserving also and, when the votes come down, they come down.”
Roth said he’d be happy not to vote if the wider basketball community wanted to defer to stats to decide awards.
“If you don’t want us to vote, then just use statistical analysis and you can just go by stats,” he said.
“That’s great, we don’t have to do anything, we just let them pick the highest scorers, put them in the NBL first team, second highest scorers in the second team and just go down the list.”
DOES THE NBL NEED TO BRING BACK ROOKIE OF THE YEAR?
Under the Next Generation Award parameters, Illawarra’s Sam Froling was a more than deserved winner of the best player in the NBL under 25 years of age.
But, after five years in the system, the 24-year-old is a bona fide star, who beat out Next Star Alex Sarr, 18, in his first year as a pro, and 22-year-old Melbourne United forward Luke Travers.
Illawarra coach Justin Tatum was chuffed for his big man’s honour but, like many, he believes the NBL needs to look at re-establishing a Rookie of the Year award — or even a best first-year pro gong — to recognise the young guns beginning their basketball journeys.
“I didn’t know too much about the Next Generation Award but, when they broke it down, I felt that Sam was right in that category and he deserved it for his body of work,” Tatum said.
“But, 100 per cent, there should be an award for the first year guys because even the Next Stars, some of them could have been playing professional before they came to the league, so that’s kind of like a little red tape as well
“They can fix up a lot of those things but if it’s that broad (all players U25) and they want to give those guys opportunity then it is what it is.”
FINALS SCHEDULE NOT IDEAL, BUT NBL UP AGAINST IT
Frustrated fans of Tasmania and New Zealand are rightfully up in arms over the diabolical scheduling of their respective Play-in Tournament games.
The JackJumpers copped the unfamily-friendly time of 5.30pm on a Wednesday, while Breakers fans across the ditch will be bleary-eyed if they stay up to watch their team face the Kings, with that clash slated for a 7.30pm start in Sydney — 9.30pm in New Zealand.
Crosscourt has been told finals scheduling is one of the most difficult processes the NBL must navigate, given the short turnaround from the end of the season often means ladder order isn’t final until the last day of the season. Venues are booked months out for concerts, conferences and other sporting events, meaning the league is often left with very few options.
For Tassie fans, there’s a perception that the smaller club lost out on a prime-time slot to big market Sydney. There’s also a traffic element — while the congestion in Tasmania pales in comparison to Melbourne and Sydney, peak hour can still add significant time to commutes, making it harder for JackJumpers fans to make it for pre-game festivities and even tip-off.
“I don’t know how all that plays itself out. It’s obviously not great for fans to get there with school and work and all that stuff,” JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said.
“We’ll still pack it out, though.
“The state and the people down there have been disregarded and have a chip on the shoulder.
“I think the pride that this team has shown over the last few years gives Tasmanians pride so the ultimate would be to bring back a trophy down there for everyone to relish.
“We’ll be doing everything we possibly can for it.
HAWKS RISK LOSING COACHING SAVIOUS ON EVE ON NBL FINALS
The Illawarra Hawks risk losing boom coach Justin Tatum.
Tatum, who took over the top job from Jacob Jackomas with the club languishing at 2-7, has produced a fairytale turnaround to lead the Hawks to the top four and a Play-in date with Tasmania.
But Tatum still wears the interim tag and confirmed to Crosscourt he has yet to strike a deal that makes his role official beyond this season.
And other teams are circling for the charismatic father of NBA star Jayson Tatum, who has drawn universal praise from a Hawks group that is clearly playing for him.
“No, it’s not,” Tatum told Crosscourt, when asked if a deal was signed.
“I haven’t seen anything come to my table
“I feel like it’s going to get done, but it’s leaving the window open for other teams to throw their bid in, which I’m not going to stop them from doing.
“For the most part, they’ve been on it, they know I want to focus on the playoffs and get it done, but they also know I want to have a job before I go back home.”
Tatum said he’s heard “through the grapevine” of rival interest.
“Just through the wind, through somebody else, guys unofficially saying ‘yes, I know a certain team that’s interested, are you locked in with them (Illawarra)?’,” Tatum said.
“I said ‘no, I’m not locked in’. If somebody else throws an offer out there and Illawarra hasn’t officially, you’ve got to consider it.
“They’ve got to figure it out.”
Tatum led the Hawks to a 12-7 finish to the season and was pipped by Melbourne United’s Dean Vickerman for Coach of the Year by just six votes (58-52).
He’s focused on leading the Hawks to the championship but admits he was a little upset to miss out on watching his son play in the NBA All-Star game in Las Vegas on the weekend.
“I had never missed an All-Star and this was kind of killing me to miss this one, which is OK, I don’t like the game, I just like his (Jayson’s) experience and the environment,” Tatum said.
“We talk every day, every day — talk, text or say something to each other, check on how you doing — he and I be having a bond forever, it’s special.”
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