Taran Armstrong says the work he put into his game over the off-season has left him comfortable taking the big shots, with the Tasmania JackJumpers starting the season with three wins from four games.
The point guard and assistant coach Jarrad Weeks spoke to media after the final training session before the JackJumpers fly out for their Round 4 away game against the Illawarra Hawks.
Armstrong was at the centre of both close wins last week.
He hit the game-winning jumper with 5.5 seconds left to beat Melbourne United 84-82 in Hobart, then top-scored with 29 points as the JackJumpers beat the Brisbane Bullets 109-99 in overtime.
He said those moments did not unsettle him. “I just feel comfortable,” he said.
“It’s not a moment that I’m fearful of or hoping things happen or work out for me. I think I’m just super present and I feel good in those moments.”
He said he spent three months of the off-season working on his game, particularly his mid-range shooting.
“Especially the mid-range was an area I wasn’t really scoring in during my time at Cairns,” he said.
“Now I feel comfortable getting to anywhere on the floor.”
Armstrong said his role at the JackJumpers carried far more responsibility than it did at Cairns.
“There is a real expectation to win and I understand that if I don’t do my job to a high enough level that we might not win,” he said.
The Burnie boy became the first Tasmanian to sign as a rostered player with the JackJumpers in May, on a one-year deal with an option for a second season.
He signed with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors in 2025 but did not play a game at that level and returned home earlier this year after playing for Dubai Basketball.
Weeks said Armstrong, Will Magnay and Josh Bannan had “really developed a relationship” and were starting to connect more on the court.
He said player development was something the club prided itself on and the team’s new high-performance centre in Kingston had made it “hard to get the guys out of here”.
It has been a busy start to the season for the JackJumpers, with two trips to Queensland.
Weeks said having one game this week was “a little bit easier on the body” and gave the team two good days of practice to “tinker with some things”.
The JackJumpers take on Illawarra in Wollongong on Friday at 7:30pm.
