Hawks sign Brian Goorjian as NBL coach on two-year deal
The Hawks have risen from the NBL scrapheap with an NBA-led ownership group, and now they’re ready to take flight after landing the greatest coach in the competition’s history.
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The reborn Hawks have secured a massive coaching coup by luring the NBL’s most successful coach home from a rich stint in China.
Six-time championship-winning coach Brian Goorjian will join the team on a two-year deal as a new ownership group goes about saving the troubled franchise.
Goorjian led the Sydney Kings to their only championships, winning the league three consecutive years, following titles with the South East Melbourne Magic and South Dragons.
The former Australian national coach’s experience and 70 per cent NBL winning record will prove invaluable to the Hawks.
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New Hawks co-owner Dorry Kordahi secured the coup, using his relationship with Goorjian during his time as a Kings part-owner to lure Goorjian back to Australia.
“Having been close friends with Brian for over 11 years at our time at the Sydney Kings, we have always said if I ever come back into owning a team again he would be there with me,” Kordahi said. “So to see this come true is something special.
“This is an exciting moment for our organisation and our fans. We have said all along we want to build solid foundations and a program that will be respected.
“Success breeds success and our focus is putting the right pieces in place to achieve this. Having Brian lead the way will give us this.”
While refusing to set any immediate lofty expectations, Goorjian has a clear path for the Hawks, who finished at the bottom of the NBL ladder this past season.
“Over time, I would like to build a winning culture with a team that is consistently in the top four, that has a chance each year of winning a championship,” Goorjian said.
“My immediate priority is to put together a staff that is highly skilled and committed to developing the players. Obviously we are also trying to put together the best possible playing roster. Not only do we want good players, it’s just as important to me that they are good people.”
Kordahi, the entrepreneur, has linked with high-profile former NBA executive Bryan Colangelo and US businessman Michael Proctor in a takeover of the cash-strapped Wollongong outfit.
They will no longer be known as the Illawarra Hawks though, following a NBL directive to “spread their wings” that has irked some long-time supporters of the league’s only remaining foundation club.
“During discussions with Dorry and the other two owners, Bryan Colangelo and Michael Proctor, I have been equally impressed by their commitment and passion to build a really strong franchise,” Goorjian said.
“They are all successful in their chosen careers and I felt the chemistry between us all was really great.
“The last 11 years I have been coaching in China but of course I have been following the developments in the NBL. I now feel very confident in its future looking at the direction that Larry Kestelman has taken the League both on and off the court.”
Kordahi was quick to point out it was a NBL directive to remove the region’s name from their title.
But he said recent history suggested changes were needed to restore the Hawks on and off the court after being put into administration twice in the last five years.
“From our end we’re always going to see Wollongong as the homeland,” he said.
“It would be stupid to jump away from that ... it’s the only foundation club left so there’s a lot of history and pride.
“But the Hawks have always been that team that everyone’s worried about ... ‘am I going to be here next year?’.
“I’m hoping our syndicate has given fans and the league a bit of comfort.”
He said the intention would be to play “one or two” games in Canberra next season before slowly looking further afield.
But he still plans to stage the majority at WIN Entertainment Centre, which he said was currently below NBL standard and in line for upgrades.
The initial sugar hit of top-five NBA draft prospect LaMelo Ball’s arrival last season bumped crowds, but they still struggled to fill a stadium Kordahi wants to see packed in years to come.
“If we can get 14 home games in Wollongong that sell out we’re committed to that,” he said.
“But we know it’s had its challenges in the past with attendance.”
Incumbent coach Matt Flinn was tipped to return if Ball’s initial bid to buy the company came through.
But the rookie mentor’s position is now less secure with Kordahi declaring a coaching announcement was imminent as he prepared to meet with former player and general manager Mat Campbell to get the lay of the land.
Bogut’s NBL ‘bush league’ lands NBA heavyweight
NBL owner and executive chairman Larry Kestelman has fired up at Australian basketball star Andrew Bogut’s suggestion that the NBL is a “bush league”.
A day after announcing he would not re-sign with the Sydney Kings, Bogut slammed NBL analyst Corey “Homicide” Williams on Twitter.
“Would you see the @NBA or even @EuroLeague have someone who officially works for their brand/league act and rant and rave like @chomicide? Of course not. But in @KestelmanLarry @NBL, perfectly ok. #bushleague” Bogut tweeted in May.
Would you see the @NBA or even @EuroLeague have someone who officially works for their brand/league act and rant and rave like @chomicide ? Of course not. But in @KestelmanLarry @NBL , perfectly ok. #bushleague https://t.co/glrMNxypJm
— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) May 26, 2020
Kestelman rejected Bogut’s dig as the NBL revealed that a new syndicate of owners — including two-time NBA executive of the year Bryan Colangelo — has purchased the Illawarra Hawks.
“I was certainly offended by that comment,” Kestelman said. “I understand that he was a little passionate in the moment and I think Andrew’s never backward in coming forward.
“If that was his opinion then so be it, and we’ll see if he decides to come back to our bush league. We’ll be happy to have him back.”
Bogut is off contract at the Sydney Kings and has taken time out to consider his playing future.
Speculation that the Boomers champion has played his last game in the NBL grew further when his Sydney property was listed for sale.
Kestelman said he respected Bogut’s decision to assess all options and hoped that his NBL days were not yet over.
“Andrew Bogut is an absolute legend of our game,” Kestelman said.
“I think everyone understands that he’s still got fuel in the tank and I think all he’s doing is assessing his options considering the coronavirus and the timing.
“Andrew coming back to the league was a really monumental moment for us. For him validating what we had been working towards and giving us that confidence that we’re a good enough league for one of the best players ... he’s very, very important for our league and we certainly hope he continues to play.”
Kestelman expects Colangelo and the Hawks’ new owners to boost the NBL and its Next Stars initiative — a program that brings the world’s most exciting young players to Australia for development.
The former 76ers general manager was key to Ben Simmons being drafted No.1 by the franchise in 2016.
Two years later, Colangelo left the 76ers after a social media controversy caused by his wife leaking private information about the team and its rivals via multiple Twitter accounts.
The 55-year-old also had stints as general manager of the Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors.
Colangelo will take an advisory role at the Hawks and his business partners are US basketball influencer Michael Proctor and former Sydney Kings co-owner Dorry Kordahi.
“We want to make sure we set up the Hawks for long-term success on and off the court and I think that starts with who’s actually involved,” Kestelman said.
“Any connection to the NBA always helps. The Next Stars has been fantastic. We’ve already signed a couple of Australian kids to that program this year and we’re in discussions certainly with others, so more and more connection to the NBA always helps.
“And with Bryan’s roots deep into the NBA, I think it’ll help, and the same with Mike.”
Under the agreement with the new owners, the Illawarra Hawks will go by the name of the “Hawks” as the club looks to expand its fanbase across NSW.