Defend the island.

For the Tasmania JackJumpers, those three words aren’t just a slogan. It’s their heartbeat. Their identity.

For coach Scott Roth, meanwhile, those three words are his “everything”. His “driving force”.

From the moment Roth was appointed as the franchise’s inaugural head coach to when he took the Jackies to an unlikely Championship Series berth in their first year in the NBL, Roth has embraced the people of Tasmania and they have reciprocated.

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First, they were the feel-good story of the NBL. But feeling good only lasts so long. Feeling content with exceeding expectations wears thin after a while.

Now that the JackJumpers are back here again, three wins away from a first-ever NBL title, they are determined to defend the island once more.

And few people are more determined than Roth. Not because it will change his life.

“But it will change 500,000 peoples’ lives if we can bring something like that back into the state,” the American said after Tasmania’s 100-84 win over Perth to book a spot in this year’s Championship Series.

Roth and the JackJumpers have already brought plenty to Tasmania and the proof is in the way the state has rallied around the NBL’s newest expansion team, with their allocation of memberships for the 2022-23 season selling out in just 26 minutes.

For the third season in a row, meanwhile, the JackJumpers sold out every single home game.

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“It has been an extraordinary story,” Australian basketball great Andrew Gaze said on ESPN’s ‘The Jump’.

“And [with] Scott Roth you could see and hear the emotion at the end of that series win. It was just heartwarming to see a coach so invested in his team.”

Not just invested in the team but invested in what the team represents or, perhaps more accurately, who they represent.

“My driving force is to bring something back into Tasmania and win a championship to allow these people to celebrate the moment,” Roth said after last week’s series win over the Wildcats.

“People like to step onto Tasmania with whatever they want to say about us and not give us the respect we deserve. The people down there are hardworking, loving families who really just want the best for whatever’s going on in the state.”

Despite their rousing success since entering the league, the JackJumpers will again be underdogs once more when they take on the NBL’s most consistent team — Melbourne United — in this year’s Championship Series.

It is a position they know all too well, having been doubted from their very inception.

Will Magnay, primed from his experience with the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA, was the big-name addition for the NBL’s newest arrival alongside import trio Josh Adams, MiKyle McIntosh and Josh Magette.

Then there was the local presence, starting at the top with captain Clint Steindl and rounded out by Jarrad Weeks, Jack McVeigh, Sam McDaniel and Fabian Krslovic.

“I think we were in studio and I had referred to them as the replacements, the bad news bears, because no disrespect but these are players that aren’t really high on the recruiting teams,” NBL legend Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams said on SEN 1116 this week.

“A lot of them would not have probably had a job in the league if it weren’t for the JackJumpers.”

They weren’t the most talented bunch. But talent can only get you so far. Instead, Roth prioritised players with strong character and a tenacious will to win. And win they did.

“That first year a group was put together where it was, I guess, a little bit mismatched and you’re trying to figure out roles,” Steindl said after last week’s series win.

“We went on a bit of a rollercoaster season and we were just putting things together as we went. As we found our identity we improved and into year two and year three we have a pretty good understanding of the people we need, from front office to coaches to players, and we gelled together and found this core group that can lead the way forward so that when we bring new personnel in they know what’s expected of them and how to, for lack of a better word, behave within our team and the culture we have established.”

That culture meant that even after losing Magnay early in the season to injury, the JackJumpers were still able to fight and claw their way to a stunning Championship Series berth.

Still, the next challenge was building on that success in the 2022-23 season and with a few new faces after losing both McIntosh and all-NBL guard Adams in free agency.

The JackJumpers were able to prove their instant success was not just a flash in the pan, going on to fall short in the semi-finals against the New Zealand Breakers.

The consistent success Tasmania has had since entering the league is something few Australian expansion teams have been able to achieve and for coach Roth the key to building a sustainable franchise starts with building a “core group” of players.

For the JackJumpers, once again, that starts with skipper Steindl and Tasmania’s key trio in its series win over Perth — McVeigh, Milton Doyle and Magnay.

“We have six or seven guys now that have been through this process for the third year,” Roth said.

“One thing I learned while I was at the Wildcats was establishing a core group that was functioning and then someone will eventually retire and someone steps in and they’ve had that here for many, many years.

“I think Jesse [Wagstaff] and BC [Bryce Cotton] are probably the last group of that going through but establishing that core group of driving culture, driving what it means to be a JackJumper, what it means to be in Tasmania.”

“He’s had a vision from when he first took that job,” added Steindl.

And that vision meant blocking out the external noise. Blocking out those who said this Tasmania team wasn’t talented enough.

“That is a myth,” Roth said, and in case you didn’t hear it the first time, here it is again.

“That is a myth,” he repeated.

“You might like strawberry ice cream, I might like mint chocolate chip but the guys we have are fantastic in what their roles are and they’re quite talented.”

To that point, Roth brought out Jarred Bairstow, who has been with the JackJumpers since the inaugural season. And yet, he’s not the sort of guy you typically hear about. Why?

Well, he’s averaged around 4.5 minutes per game this season. But his impact goes beyond time on the court according to Roth.

“He doesn’t play but he is a culture driver,” the JackJumpers coach said.

“He is a guy who shows up every single day and is accountable and our guys see that. Those guys, to me, are irreplaceable of what you’re trying to do to establish what we’ve tried to do here for three years.

“To build some foundations so when I move on hopefully things are still functioning in a sound way and the culture we’ve established stays with us.”

Roth hasn’t moved on just yet though. First he deserves to finish off what he started and win a title.

Because even if it isn’t about him, this team and this state wouldn’t be what it is without him.

“Scott Roth is not only a class act but one of the best coaches to hit the shores of Australia… they [the JackJumpers] have been remarkable,” Williams said.

“Two grand final appearances in three years… they were underdogs, nobody believed in them. The more they had success, people continued to doubt them more and more.

“This team is for real.”

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