"They look semi-lost": Rucker on Tassie

As the JackJumpers fell to their third consecutive loss for the first time since NBL23, Derek Rucker worries that they might not have the pieces to pull it back together.

“I know they’ve got off to slow starts the past couple years ... but this doesn’t feel the same,” Rucker said on Moments That Mattered.

“It looks like that Jackie culture is getting challenged right now.”

Through both their losses in Round 5, Tasmania show improvement offensively to be leading at half-time, before falling apart in the final two quarters.

“As a group, as a coaching staff and as an organisation, they’ve got to find a way to rally together,” Rucker said.

“They’re going up to Brisbane and I see that as a must-win situation.

“They simply have got to get that game.”

Tasmania began the NBL23 season with three straight losses and then found themselves down 16 points at half-time to Brisbane. After fighting back to send that game to overtime, they registered their first win of the season and marched all the way to a top four spot by season’s end.

But the departure of Jack McVeigh and Sean Macdonald's absence through injuries only adds to the challenge this time around.

“We love to see them do well,” Rucker added.

“They just look semi-lost ... and time is starting to run out for Tasmania.”