Cotton expecting a “grit and grind” clash with JackJumpers

The Sixers travel to Tasmania on Friday night to face the ladder-leading Tasmania JackJumpers expecting a difficult encounter.

Tasmania have a 4-1 record to start the season and are currently on a three-game winning streak, most recently defeating the Illawarra Hawks by ten points last Friday.

Coming off their own big win against the Kings in Sydney, the Sixers currently hold a 3-4 record and sit seventh on the NBL ladder.

Six-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton hopes the Sixers can give the same effort they showed against the Kings when they get to Hobart, particularly on the defensive end.

“I think it's going to be a grit and grind game. That's how Tassie likes to play,” Cotton said in an interview with Kym Dillon and Chad Cornes on SEN.

“But for us, I think whenever we're starting off on the right foot defensively, it carries over for us on offense.”

The Sixers held the then undefeated Sydney Kings to 78 points in their clash last Sunday, their lowest score for the season by 15 points.

Cotton credited the Sixers’ offensive performance with helping the team’s defensive effort.

“Because our offense flowed so well, I think we did a pretty good job of making sure we had great transition defence,” Cotton said.

“There’s only so much you can plan in every game. We just wanted to make things tough for them and make them take tough shots because they have a lot of talented players and the scores ended up being what they were.”

Five players scored in double digits for the Sixers against Sydney, including huge performances off the bench from John Jenkins (20 points) and Matt Kenyon (11 points).

With key players Flynn Cameron, Isaac Humphries and Bul Kuol still sidelined through injury, the Sixers’ bench players have an opportunity to step up and make an impact.

Coming off a loss to Melbourne United where Nick Rakocevic and Bryce Cotton combined for 66 of the Sixers’ 91 points, Cotton was thrilled with the collective team effort against Sydney.

“Those are the things that it's going to take to win at a high rate in this league or in any league,” Cotton said.

“You have to do things by committee.”

Kenyon added eight rebounds to his 11 points against Sydney, as well as taking on the defensive assignment of guarding Sydney’s point guard Kendric Davis for parts of the game.

Davis finished the game with 16 points on 6-19 shooting from the field.

Cotton highlighted Kenyon’s performance as one of the key factors that led to the Sixers’ upset win.

“Kenny (Kenyon), he did a fantastic job defensively, getting rebounds. The energy he brought, it was super contagious,” Cotton said.

“Kenny is a hell of a player at what he does.

“Just seeing how he was all over the place on the court versus Sydney. I get flashbacks of him doing that stuff to me in practice every day of last year.”

Cotton also praised Jenkins’ 20-point performance, emphasising the American’s ability to perform under pressure at key times.

“In the big moments, he steps up,” Cotton said.

“Everybody knows how much work John puts in. So, at the end of the day, whatever your talent level is, it's always going to balance out to that.

“He does so much stuff before practice, after practice. You can see why he's been a pro for 15 years and is still playing at the level that he does."

Friday night’s game against the JackJumpers in Tasmania tips off at 7:00pm ACDT.

You can tune in on ESPN via Kayo or Disney+.

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