Scott Roth and the old school mentality that’s made Tasmania JackJumpers an NBL juggernaut
Scott Roth doesn’t much like doing media. But the adopted Tasmanian has given a rare insight into the old school values that helped build a JackJumpers juggernaut — and the WNBL is next.
Scott Roth is hating this right now.
As old school as it gets, the JackJumpers’ mentor is on the phone to a member of the national basketball media, wondering why anyone would want to hear from “a dumb old coach”.
But, the man who has reluctantly become the face of basketball in Tasmania makes the time for a rare chat outside the Tassie hoops media bubble.
“I’m pretty boring and, as you know, I don’t really care to do a lot of media, just because I think I’m an uninteresting story,” Roth offers.
“I’d just rather stay out of the media and not have to do it, to be quite honest, let the players have all the conversation and build their brands and let them be at the forefront of what’s going on.
“It’s just always better to tell their stories than a dumb old coach, at the end of the day.”
The Ohio native, who has become a hoops icon in Tasmania, is selling himself very, very short – and not just because he stands an imposing 203cm.
A former San Antonio and Minnesota big man in the late 1980s, Roth was an assistant at four NBA clubs before landing in Perth in 2019.
Headhunted from the Wildcats in 2021 as the expansion JackJumpers’ inaugural coach, Roth’s found himself in what could only be deemed an unfathomable situation – an American outsider who has been embraced by a famously insular state as one of their own.
Roth shares that insular trait and they adore him for the work he’s done in the community – and the fact he’s built a juggernaut, on and off the court.
One simple foundation underpins it all.
The first thing any player who might potentially become part of the unique culture of the JackJumpers learns is “pretty simple”.
“It’s how I was raised – Nothing’s promised to you. I don’t care who you are, I don’t care where you come from. I don’t care how much money you make,” Roth said.
“Nothing’s promised to you.”
IT’S SERVED ROTH – AND THE JACKIES – WELL
That principal powers the little engine that could in Tassie, helping the JackJumpers rise to the top of the NBL tree as champions in just their third season.
It works two-fold: Tassie isn’t a place for every player, no matter how decorated a resume might be – but it’s ensured a conveyor belt of success stories have rolled through the club, many plucked off the scrap heap by Roth.
“Now, some coaches will promise a starting job, minutes and so on and so forth to land a player,” Roth said.
“Having been a player, I would hate to be in that kind of environment without a chance to actually prove yourself because, if you did prove yourself, (opportunity has) already been promised away.
“So, for me, all the players that come in already know the starting point is zero and that the work rate in whatever you’re doing will allow you to be on the floor.
“It’s pretty simple and It’s probably old fashioned, but it’s just what I believe in.”
MORE THAN WINS AND LOSSES
Ask a coach why they do it and you’ll get a variety of answers, most underpinned by winning.
But the pride in leading and developing players is paramount for Roth, more so than the results.
“It’s really the only reason why I’m still coaching,” Roth said.
“I don’t coach for the wins or losses and all that stuff, It’s more about the leadership and mentorship and seeing guys that played for us continue to do well in the league and in their careers.
“It’s a wonderful thing because our coaches have had a huge impact on their improvement and their marketability with other teams, and it’s something that we should be quite proud of.”
Those success stories are many and varied. Chief among them is the quirky kid in Jack McVeigh, who couldn’t quite break through in Adelaide but rose to champion, grand final MVP and then NBA player in Tassie.
The luckless Sean Macdonald – a three-year development player who shunned other clubs’ offers to remain at the Jackies – was to be the conductor of Roth’s offence before a season-ending injury struck.
Isaac White and Matt Kenyon (both now in Adelaide), Sam McDaniel (Brisbane) and Reuben Te Rangi (New Zealand) are among other lesser lights who found a niche in Tassie.
Then there’s the bigger names in new colours. McVeigh is a million-dollar man in Cairns this season and the likes of Milton Doyle and Fabian Krslovic (United) and Marcus Lee (Cairns) are thriving.
DEFENDING THE ISLAND – ALONGSIDE AFL, CRICKET AND ANY OTHER SPORT
BBL and WBBL cricket is popular and the AFL is on the way but they’re all chasing Tassie’s team.
The Jackies captivated the nation with their championship ascension and the tireless community work of Roth and Co. has touched every bastion of the Apple Isle.
He could be forgiven for thinking that work’s under threat as the footy juggernaut enters the fray. Not so.
“We are trying to Defend the Island for everyone,” Roth, using the mantra that has defined his team, says.
“All the sports teams down here have the same type of mindset: coming in and putting a good product out there.
“And there’s no – at least, I don’t feel – any competition between someone else that’s a Tasmanian team, whether it be cricket or the AFL or anyone else that’s trying to establish themselves in the state.
“The AFL doesn’t play at the same time of the year that we do. That’s coexisting and we are trying to work together.”
Roth’s adopted a pragmatic approach to the state’s unique sporting landscape, one his club has led.
“It can only be good for the kids and the youth here in the state when they have teams that are in front of them to give them something to aspire to as they get older,” he said.
Years of fighting for a new home will be rewarded in June when the Jackies move into a state-of-the-art 5500sqm high performance training centre at Kingsborough.
The AFL’s Devils will build their home a stone’s throw away.
Roth hopes those new developments at the elite level will pave the way for more infrastructure to cater for community sport in the state.
COMING TOGETHER WITH THE W
When the Jackies do move into that new $17 million facility, they will finally be whole.
Since their inception, the club’s administration base has been 30 minutes from where it trains.
It’s a development that will pave the way for the new women’s club, which will enter the WNBL next season.
Not before time, if Roth’s dealings in the community are to go by.
“Over the last four or five years, it’s probably one of the No.1 things that’s asked of me as I travel around the state talking to youth groups and schools – ‘when is there going to be a girls team with the JackJumpers?’,” Roth said.
“There’s a now a pathway for ladies to get involved at the professional level, whether it be playing or coaching or a video co-ordinator, be an assistant coach, be a physio.”
The new as-yet-unnamed women’s team has a powerful champion in Roth, who has been named an ambassador, working with club basketball boss Darren Smith and assistant general manager Kayla Steindl on its establishment.
“I’m helping them with anything that needs to be done with it, as a sounding board, all the way from coaching to setting up their entire program, just trying to establish what that looks like over the next five-six months,” he said.
Having everyone under the one roof will allow the Jackies to truly fulfil the “one club” goal.
“It’ll be the first time ever for us,” Roth said.
“It only makes sense to have the synergy and the same goals and same structure (WNBL and NBL).”
More Coverage
Originally published as Scott Roth and the old school mentality that’s made Tasmania JackJumpers an NBL juggernaut
NBL tribunal’s ‘unusual’ move in star 36er’s striking ban
