Crosscourt NBL Boomers special: Latest news and rumours out of the 2023-24 season
It’s only a matter of time before Brian Goorjian is back coaching in the NBL — a reality which has almost every coach on notice. Where would the Boomers head honcho fit best?
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Boomers coach Brian Goorjian will offer Paris auditions to some of the NBL’s best players, while blooding a number of Australia’s finest young talents at February’s FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
Goorjian, whose contract with Basketball Australia ends after the Olympics, confirmed to Crosscourt the Paris campaign would be his last as national team coach.
The 70-year-old maestro will be on the sidelines for the two qualifiers in Bendigo and Jakarta, where NBL guns Mitch Creek (SEM) and Dejan Vasiljevic (Adelaide) will be given the opportunity to press their Olympic claims.
Giant 17-year-old Brisbane Bullets’ Next Star Rocco Zikarsky — a potential 2025 NBA lottery pick — and young Sydney pair Jaylin Galloway and Alex Toohey will also be part Goorjian’s team, which will face Korea on February 22 on home soil and then jet to Jakarta for a February 25 match up with Indonesia.
The likes of Creek, 31, and Vasiljevic, 26, are legitimate chances of at least making the Paris training camp, with Goorjian warning “one or two” players from the FIBA World Cup squad could “fall off the tree”.
“I’m coaching it (the qualifiers) and it’s something I want to take advantage of leading into the Olympics,” Goorjian told Crosscourt.
“What I’m trying to do is get a look at some guys who legitimately can add to this (Olympic campaign) and bring them into camp if they’re good enough.
“Creek, he’s a guy you look at, give him an opportunity, see what he looks like in these games. If you like that, you bring him in (to the Paris camp) with a legit chance of making the Olympics, because you’re not wasting a guy like that’s time.
“DJ, he’s a shooter, he’s got great potential. Now, right now, I don’t know, but he’s got Boomers down the road, for sure. He’s got international capabilities.
“Then, on the other side, you’ve got young guys like Galloway, Toohey, Rocco. It’s my responsibility to touch them and get them around the Boomers now and they know they’re feeling part of it and seeing a future in it when they’re young.
“Galloway, he is definitely an international player. Now, when that takes place, and, again, the Olympics are close, but this (FIBA Asia Cup qualifying) window thing is for real.
“There’s some really great young talent coming through the NBL.”
Goorjian revealed he challenged Melbourne United superstar Chris Goulding, following the World Cup, to make it impossible to leave him out of Paris calculations.
The 35-year-old competitive beast has responded with one of the finest seasons of his career, positioning himself as an MVP frontrunner — along with perennial Perth fancy Bryce Cotton — on the NBL’s best team.
“He understands what took place at the last World Cup and I put it on him, ‘play your f***ing ass off because you’re not done in this’,” Goorjian said of Goulding, who has hit a ridiculous 76 three-pointers — 25 more than next best Cotton — and is pouring in 18.6 points per game on a team that has won 14 of 17 games.
“I think that’s been good for him in how he’s performing now.”
NBL STARS WHO COULD FORCE THEIR WAY INTO PARIS TEAM
Mitch Creek
Dejan Vasiljevic
YOUNG NBL GUNS THE FUTURE OF BOOMERS
Rocco Zikarsky
Jaylin Galloway
Alex Toohey
FIBA ASIA CUP QUALIFIERS
Boomers v Korea, Bendigo, February 22
Boomers v Indonesia, Jakarta, February 25
GOORJ BACK IN THE NBL?
Paris might be Brian Goorjian’s focus for the next eight months but that hasn’t stopped NBL clubs calling on the legendary mentor.
The six-time NBL championship-winning mentor confirmed the worst-kept secret he’s had to say “no” to a number of advances from teams in Australia and Asia seeking his services.
But, once his Paris duties are fulfilled, it’s open slather on the six-time NBL Coach of the Year, who led the Boomers to Olympic bronze.
“I have already had a few offers domestically that I wanted to do but I wasn’t able to because I am committed to this thing (Paris) and it needs my full attention,” Goorjian told Crosscourt.
“The Olympics is the finish for me, for sure, as the coach (of the Boomers) and that was the plan all along when I came back into it.
“Once that’s done I will definitely be coaching domestically and I’m wide open to whatever comes my way.
“I love the NBL and, if the right situation comes up, I’ll consider that, and then there is interest in Asia.
“I’ll make that decision after the Olympics.”
So where might Goorj fit?
Bottom-of-the-table Adelaide, led by interim Scott Ninnis, is working through a process of securing a permanent replacement for CJ Bruton — a role Goorj could relish.
Goorjian coached Illawarra from 2020-22 but Hawks interim Justin Tatum firms by the day as the club’s next mentor.
Sydney’s Mahmoud Abdelfattah and South East Melbourne’s Mike Kelly are both on two-year deals but each has had their challenges in year one.
Goorj has deep ties to Melbourne’s Heartland as a revered figure in local Victorian basketball circles and ex-coach of the past clubs Eastside Spectres, South East Melbourne Magic, Victoria Titans and South Dragons.
He’s the greatest coach in Kings history, leading the club to five grand finals in six years and a remarkable three-peat.
Mody Maor is out-of-contract in New Zealand and, while there have been some early rumbles, the injury-plagued Breakers are beginning to hit their straps and loom as a real wildcard down the home stretch.
After a rocky start in Perth, John Rillie has hit his straps and the Wildcats have emerged as Melbourne United’s biggest danger in NBL24. The club has picked up his team option for next season.
Dean Vickerman is cemented in Melbourne on a long-term deal, ditto respected Tassie mentor Scott Roth. Adam Forde is the reigning Coach of the Year in Cairns while rookie Justin Schueller has made significant change in his short time in Brisbane and is on a two-year deal to continue that turnaround at the Bullets.
NBL COACHING PICTURE
Adelaide: Scott Ninnis (interim)
Brisbane: Justin Schueller (contracted through NBL25)
Cairns: Adam Forde (contracted through NBL25)
Illawarra: Justin Tatum (interim)
Melbourne United: Dean Vickerman (contracted through NBL28)
New Zealand: Mody Maor (out-of-contract)
Perth: John Rillie (contracted through NBL25)
South East Melbourne: Mike Kelly (contracted through NBL25)
Sydney: Mahmoud Abdelfattah (contracted through NBL25)
Tasmania: Scott Roth (contracted through NBL26 (mutual option))
NEXT SARR GOING NOWHERE
Potential NBA No.1 draft pick Alex Sarr is in for the long haul in Perth, club boss Danny Mills says.
Sarr’s unique blend of size, mobility and skill has made the French teenager one of the hottest basketball prospects on the planet.
And, while some fear the 216cm phenom might shut things down before the end of the season, Mills is adamant it’s not going to happen.
“No, there’s no indication from Alex, he is fully invested in the team and its success and all of our indications are he’s going to be here through the rest of the season,” Mills said.
“The best opportunity for him to really separate himself in the draft discussion is to be playing deep in March in playoff basketball and producing.
“If he’s doing what he’s doing now for us on the court in a playoff series then that’s only going to enhance his draft stock.”
Sarr’s providing the second-placed Wildcats, who have won seven of their last nine games, with a legit big man presence off the bench.
An offensive threat from all over the floor who defends talls and smalls at a high level, Sarr is producing just under 10 points and five rebounds in almost 20 minutes a night, putting him in the conversation for the NBL’s Best Sixth Man award.
He looms as a vital piece if the soaring Wildcats are to make a deep playoff run.
HAS TATUM HELPED HAWK IMPORT AVOID AXE?
Boom Illawarra interim coach Justin Tatum might have saved more than just the Hawks’ season.
Crosscourt has been told the club, which axed coach Jacob Jackomas in November, had considered making a roster change, with underperforming import guard Justin Robinson (pictured) among players put on notice.
Tatum took the reins from Jackomas and has breathed new life into the franchise. After Sunday night’s New Year’s Eve win over Adelaide – which attracted 5101 fans to WIN Entertainment Centre, the club’s biggest crowd in two seasons – Tatum has led the Hawks to a 5-2 record, which put them just percentage behind the Breakers outside the top six.
It’s understood that uptick in form has given the club pause on any potential roster moves, with former Washington Wizard Robinson playing an efficient role in the Hawks’ resurgence. The 26-year-old, who returned to Illawarra this season after a devastating knee injury cruelled his NBL23 campaign, owns the best plus/minus of any Hawk across the seven-game stretch under Tatum at a gaudy +54. The 11 points and 4 assists don’t jump off the page – especially as an import – but there is a noticeable change in how Robinson has been going about it.
The Virginia Tech product is clearly playing harder, has lifted defensively and his ball security has been elite across that span, coughing it up just less than once per game.
Robinson’s crowning moment of the stretch so far was his Christmas Day stunner against Sydney, when he scored or assisted on six of the Hawks’ last eight points to stun Sydney 94-90. On Sunday, he picked the 36ers apart with a team-high 19 points in the 91-84 win.
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Originally published as Crosscourt NBL Boomers special: Latest news and rumours out of the 2023-24 season
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