The JackJumpers have secured their spot in the NBL finals for the third consecutive year after finishing the regular season in third place.
The team is set to face the Illawarra Hawks in a seeding qualifier on Wednesday, February 28, at Hobart’s MyState Bank Arena, with the winner to head to play offs against the Perth Wildcats.
Their entry into the finals follows what the team described as “one of the closest seasons in NBL history”, which came down to the very last game of the regular season.
The JackJumpers claimed third place on the ladder, while the Illawarra Hawks secured fourth, with the Kings in fifth and the Breakers in sixth.
The losing team in the qualifier will host the winner of the 5 vs. 6 Play-In Qualifier (Sydney Kings vs. New Zealand Breakers) to compete for a spot in Playoff Series 2 against Melbourne United.
Coach Scott Roth shared his immense pride in his team following their last game on Saturday night, saying they had gained momentum after winning five of their last six games.
“We have done a good job in this last fourth of the season to really zone in on what we needed to get done offensively and defensively and I couldn’t be more proud of our guys. 16 wins this year in a league that has been really, really tough to deal with given how good the teams are,” he said.
“I think we addressed [the inconsistencies] as best we could in the middle part of the season and our guys kept coming back and doing the work and never dropped their heads.”
“They were really involved in the process of trying to get better and those things could probably creep back in, you just never know, but I think we are moving in the right direction in some of those areas.”
