Jett told The Mercury in July of his aim to be the league’s best player and certainly emerged as Illawarra’s standout performer in the preseason.

It’s a claim that been derided by some, Fox Sports analyst Shane Heal one of the most vocal in his skepticism.

Anyone who knows the quietly spoken Minnesota native is not prone to outlandish statements, but the 26-year-old isn’t shying away from the lofty goal.

“As far as other people’s opinions I’m not worried about that at all,” Jett said.

“At the end of the day everyone has an opinion but that’s all it is, another opinion. 

“I’m here, I’m an import for this team and if I’m not aiming for MVP, if I’m not aiming to win a championship, then what am I here for?

“I’m going to continue to say it, I’m going to keep setting that standard. 

“I think I’ve got to be a lot more aggressive. You can’t win MVP if you’re not aggressive so I’m always looking at the film and evaluating myself and trying to get better.” 

His defensive effort on one the league MVP favourites Casper Ware on Friday night indicates he’s going to do all he can to make life difficult for his rivals.

That was one of the more enthralling duels to come out of the quadruple-overtime thriller and Jett is likely to get the job on Cairns import Melo Trimble on Sunday.

The University of Maryland alum produced one of the great NBL debuts against Brisbane last week with 32 points five rebounds and three assists.

It spurred the Snakes to an 18-point blowout win leaving Jett excited by the challenge of putting the clamp on one of the league’s top guards.

“The NBL app wasn’t working too good for me so I didn’t get to see much of the game but I saw the highlights and he had a really good game,” Jett said.

“He’s a very talented player so I’m excited for that match-up. I’ve always set a high standard for myself on the defensive end

“I’ve done it my whole life,so I’m going to take that match-up and I’m going to try and win that match up every night.” 

The Hawks will head north 0-2, and the only side in the league without a win from two games, after wildly fluctuating fortunes over the opening round.

Playing four overtimes was a first for Jett but his side isn’t using the one-hour marathon as an excuse for their 40-point drubbing at the hands of Perth last Sunday.

“We didn’t go in there having pity for ourselves, we went in there to get a win,” Jett said.

“That first game was the longest game I’ve played in my life. It was exhausting, tiring, it was good effort, but we still took a loss. Then we had a long flight, went to Perth and got whopped.

“It obviously looked bad, I guess guys looked tired, it caught up to us, but it’s part of the game, it’s part of basketball, it happens.

“Everybody’s picked us to finish last on the ladder so we proved a bit of a point in that first game that we’re here and we’re not messing around.

“That’s who we really are and that’s how we play. That second game wasn’t who we really are but we’ll get a chance to show it again. We’ve got a lot of rounds ahead of us.”