Magnay urges Tassie to “be better”

A stern statement has come from Tasmania JackJumpers’ Will Magnay following their loss to the Bullets on Wednesday night, and the center has urged his team to clean-up their act ahead of tonight’s clash with the Hawks.

The JackJumpers were behind in most of their Round 15 contest against the Bullets, however a fourth quarter fightback was put down by a game-winning three from Chris Smith with just three seconds to go.

“It’s just attention to detail. I think it comes down to how much you care, how much you really care about what we’re doing,” Magnay said following the loss.  

“How involved are you in the time out, are you dozing off or are you really involved? 

“What’s your job coming out of the time out, how can you affect winning? I think that’s what it comes down to.”

Should the JackJumpers lose to the resurgent Hawks, they will have lost four of their last five games for just the second time in the club's short history. The only other time Tasmania has slumped to a comparable run of form is in the opening stages its first season in the NBL.

The JackJumpers are rapidly falling out of contention for a top two position come season's end, but a win against Illawarra will go some way to steadying the ship.

Magnay has called on his side to start tonight's game better than they started their last clash against Brisbane.

“We had a gut check tonight. They tested us, we didn’t respond in the first half and our second half was much better,” he said.

“When you dig yourself a hole in the first half it’s hard to claw your way out of it, we need to be better from the jump.”

The JackJumpers play the Illawarra Hawks tonight at 7:30pm AEDT, the game will be broadcast live on ESPN via Kayo.