It was the shot that league legends, pundits, fans and even some players have labelled the greatest in the history of the National Basketball League.
But Jack McVeigh’s staggering half-court Hail Mary, which sent the Tasmania JackJumpers into a potential championship decider against Melbourne United, will be quickly forgotten should his team fail to “get the job done”, according to the man himself.
“I’ve received messages from people I haven’t talked to in 10 or 15 years and it’s been awesome,” McVeigh said.
“I’m grateful, but it’s been weird because the shot is irrelevant if we don’t get the job done.”
McVeigh says he’s only watched replays of the shot a handful of times, and rather than focus on the miracle make, his eyes were diverted to teammate and crowd reactions upon the ball hitting the bottom of the basket.
“My phone has pretty much been on silent and chucked under my bed,” he said.
“The night I made it I watched it quite a few times, checking out the guys’ reaction on the bench, the crowd reactions, having a laugh at Mags (Will Magnay) and Drim (Anthony Drmic) on the sideline and him running to take my head off, just enjoying those little moments.”
The 35-footer, assisted magnificently by Milton Doyle in the dying breaths of Sunday’s Game 3, will be etched in Australian basketball folklore should the JackJumpers win one of their next 2 games to claim a stunning maiden title.
Captain Clint Steindl says McVeigh’s decision to take the shot, rather than progress the ball or attempt a higher percentage play, was the right call.
“You have to make decisions on the fly,” he said.
“Jack made a decision. He’s done it before. I think everyone knew that Jack was going to shoot it at some point, and I think to look at it now, it’s like ‘good decision, Jack’.”
The rest is history.
Coach Scott Roth echoed McVeigh’s sentiments that the shot will result in little more than a “what if” should Tasmania fail to clinch the title, whether that happens at home or in Melbourne on Sunday.
“It hasn’t been spoken about at all. It’s just one of those things, it’s a great moment but it’s actually meaningless at the end of the day,” Roth said.
“If we don’t win a championship, the shot won’t mean anything.”
Roth’s penchant for cigars and nachos is well known, but ahead of tomorrow night’s potential decider, he’s keeping the lid tightly shut on any championship talk.
“For us, it’s just another Thursday night game. It’s the last home game officially for us, and we want to play well at home,” he said.
Steindl is expecting the rhythm of the series to continue unbroken, with a physical “dogfight” expected against Melbourne United, and for the championship to be decided by inches.
“It’s extremely physical. Guys attacking the basket. Post play, you can see how physical that’s been,” he said.
“It’s just two bulls going at it. It’s going to be a cracker.
“If you can create two, three extra possessions that can change a game and turn into four, five or six points, so the big thing is work rate.”
For McVeigh, the added attention won’t disrupt his usual pre-game routine.
He’ll turn to an unlikely ally for motivation ahead of tonight’s battle.
“I’m currently working through the Lord of the Rings series, listening to it, so I’ve been enjoying that. So, Aragorn has been cheering me on as we go towards a championship,” he said.
Growing pains as history beckons
The JackJumpers like to evoke the spirit of the scrappy underdog, but make no mistake, the club has grown from a fledgling start up to a competition juggernaut in just 3 seasons.
On Tuesday, tickets for Thursday night’s Game 4 sold out in just 10 minutes, which marked the 49th consecutive home game sell-out for the club, stretching back to the team’s first game in October 2021.
The JackJumpers are helped by a bumper $2 million per season in Tasmanian government sponsorship, have strong corporate and community support, and have been able to harness the imaginations of an entire state of people.
“My job was to connect the state, top to bottom, which they said couldn’t be done,” coach Roth said.
“They said if you went north of Launceston you had to drink Boags beer, and if you went south of there you had to drink Cascade.
“‘Defend the Island’ has now become a motto not only for basketball, but for just work, things like youth groups, and something to be proud of to represent this state.”
The club’s off-court operation has translated into a slick production on the court, with three consecutive finals appearances seeing demand for seats at an all-time high.
It prompted league chief executive David Stevenson to label Tasmania as “the most successful expansion club in any sport”, while last week, league and club owner Larry Kestelman told ABC Sport he expected a review to be undertaken of the 5,000-seat MyState Bank Arena to determine steps forward for a potential expansion.
“We have 3,500 people who have paid for a potential membership. The bad news is that unless someone passes away, there’s not going to any free seats. We need to expand it,” he said.
An expanded arena, coupled with a planned $15 million high-performance facility — as well as a shiny new trophy in the cabinet — could see Tasmania morph from small market upstart to the NBL’s destination club.
Superfan’s delight at team success
Another hallmark of the club has been the buy-in of local hoops aficionados, and the emergence of JackJumper superfans like Hobart resident Simon Hall.
A passionate fan from the old Devils days, Hall was so desperate to attend the JackJumpers inaugural home game, he and his partner rescheduled the birth of their second child to make sure they were there.
“The JackJumpers staff, they still laugh and say ‘I can’t believe you scheduled the birth around the game’, but you gotta do what you gotta do.”
Three years later, young Spencer is well and truly indoctrinated.
Hall, who owns custom shoes, courtside season tickets and has vowed to get a championship tattoo, says the team has taught him to “believe” again.
“I was a fan when the Devils were here in Tassie and I’ve been involved in basketball the whole time since. It’s made me a believer again that basketball is the best sport in the world.
“It’s made me very happy”
The Tasmania JackJumpers plays Melbourne United in Game 4 of the NBL Championship series in Hobart from 7.30 tonight, with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 series.
Game 5, if required, will be played in Melbourne on Sunday.
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