Crosscourt: Hawks star Gary Clark keen on NBL return, Goorj scouts Cooks’ Kings comeback
Star Illawarra import Gary Clark has fallen in love with Australia and wants to come back to the NBL next season, but there’s no guarantee it will be via the Hawks.
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Star Illawarra import Gary Clark has fallen in love with Australia and wants to come back to the NBL next season.
Whether that is with the Hawks or not will have to wait until the dust settles on their season.
The Hawks maintain an interest in bringing back the former NBA forward, who overcame a tough start to the season to produce MVP-calibre play, leading his side to fourth-place on the ladder.
“I’m a free agent this summer, there’s been talks here and there but my agent deals with all that,” Clark told Code Sports.
“He said there’s a bunch of stuff to talk about but he wants me to focus on playoffs right now and I want to try to win it all.
“Those conversations get crazier the closer it gets.”
Clark has been dominant in the Hawks semi final series against Melbourne United, with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the game one loss, then a monster 31-point, 16-board effort to send it to tonight’s all-or-nothing decider.
It’s understood several NBL clubs, as well as teams overseas, have already expressed interest in the 29-year-old.
Asked if he’s loved his first trip Down Under and the North Carolina native’s face lights up.
“I do, I really do, ever since I was a kid I wanted to come to Australia,” he said.
“It’s blown my mind away, how beautiful this place is.
Gary Clark with the step back 3!!!!
— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) March 10, 2024
📺 Watch live on ESPN via KayoSports#WeRiseTogetherpic.twitter.com/InmB3gYDdc
“The people I’ve met, there’s countless relationships throughout Illawarra, people who will be in my life forever.
“Tough to come by myself but Australia isn’t a bad place to come. You can get into a lot of fun stuff, fishing, golfing, it’s beautiful.
GOORJ SCOUTS TWO-TIME NBL CHAMP IN PHILIPPINES
The NBL’s most successful coach Brian Goorjian signed with the Sydney Kings less than a week ago, but he is already making moves in the player market.
Just days after announcing his desire to lure star forward Xavier Cooks back to the Kings, Goorjian boarded a plane to the Philippines to watch him play.
Cooks didn’t disappoint, dropping a ridiculous near Gtriple-double, 24 points, 23 boards, 8 blocks, 2 steals for Chiba Jets in the East Asia Super League (EASL) semi-final on Saturday.
Goorjian told Crosscourt why he is keen to entice the NBL23 MVP to re-join the Kings.
“I know from coaching against Cooks in the two years I was at (Illawarra), I’d see him and think, ‘shit, they’ve (Sydney) got the best player,” Goorjian said.
“It was like Gaze and that’s an element that’s really hard to overcome.”
Goorjian believes Cooks is not only a brilliant player, who is incredibly competitive, but he also possesses a chilled persona off the court that brings a calmness to the playing group.
He compared the Ballarat-born forward’s influence to one of his former players Andrew Parkinson – who he won two NBL championships with at the South East Melbourne Magic in 1992 and 1996.
“I’ve had guys like Parkinson, who just played a role, but he was funny and he took the edge off my personality,” he said.
“And when he wasn’t there, you’d walk into practice and it was a different place.
“I think with Cooks, there was a bigger miss for the Kings.”
Goorjian says he is viewing Sydney’s roster as an “open book”, while he confirmed he is looking for potential signings during his time in the Philippines.
The Kings have Alex Toohey (Next Star), Angus Glover, DJ Hogg (mutual option), and Makuach Maluach (team option) contracted for NBL25.
It’s uncertain if imports Jaylen Adams and Denzel Valentine will return next season, while the same can be said for Australian big Jonah Bolden.
Kings CEO Chris Pongrass also left the door open for centre Jordi Hunter to potentially depart the club.
Pongrass described Hunter as a “fabric” of the organisation, but he understands the reality of rivals impressing interest in the reliable big man.
“With that comes challenges when you are trying to re-recruit someone like Jordi back to the club,” Pongrass said about Hunter, who recently signed a short-term deal to play with Latvian outfit, Rigas Zelli, over the NBL off-season.
“Luckily he is a Sydney boy and has had the best part of his playing career here, but also we want the best for him.
“He is a priority, in terms of wanting him back if the opportunity arises. But I also understand internationally and within the NBL and I’m sure there are going to be people that see Jordi as a crucial piece.
“He is a great kid and someone who we’d love to see remain at the club, but if it doesn’t fall that way that’s basketball.”
According to Sydney chairman and co-owner Paul Smith, Goorjian’s signing as coach fits perfectly into the club’s “overarching” plan for basketball across NSW.
Smith confirmed the “imminent” construction of a high performance centre in Auburn – which is funded by the State Government and the Cumberland City Council.
“It will be the first dedicated facility of its type in Australia for professional basketball,” he said.
“We’ve got very ambitious plans for basketball.
“It’s enormously exciting and creates ambition and Brian fits into the equation for us to lead our team on the court and create an environment where young people want to play basketball.”
STAR JACKJUMPERS’ BIG MAN MARCUS LEE FACES SERIES-ENDING BAN
Tasmania boss Darren Smith has slammed the Perth Wildcats after Marcus Lee was rubbed out by the NBL.
The Wildcats lodged a complaint with the NBL and asked it to review an ugly unsportsmanlike foul involving Lee and Perth import Jordan Usher.
The league’s game review panel issued a two-game ban, which was reduced to one on the JackJumpers’ early guilty plea.
“We’re disappointed to not have Marcus available, but more disappointed with how it’s come about,” Smith said.
“The incident was assessed as an unsportsmanlike foul at the time and that was the reasonable and appropriate penalty in our opinion. It was not cited by the referees during nor following the game but has been brought about by the Wildcats’ administration.”
The JackJumpers explored their options but decided to accept the sanction, meaning Lee won’t play in game two of the semi final series on Monday night.
“We have to accept the GRP’s decision and now move on to tomorrow night’s game, determined to defend our home floor” Smith said.
It is a massive blow to a JackJumpers side already sweating on the fitness of fellow big man Will Magnay.
Code Sports can reveal Perth lodged a complaint with the NBL and requested a review of the incident, which occurred during the fourth quarter of Friday night’s 89-81 Wildcats win.
It’s understood the JackJumpers are disappointed with the Wildcats’ decision adding another layer to Monday’s Game 2 at MyState Bank Arena.
Lee, in the moment, was slapped with an unsportsmanlike foul after a physical hit on Wildcats import Usher, which flared tempers.
The NBL game review panel found the American centre’s play was intentional high contact of medium impact and charged him with unduly rough play, which carries an automatic two-game ban.
An early guilty plea reduced the ban to one game — a do-or-die Monday night clash in Tasmania with the Wildcats up 1-0 in the best-of-three series.
The NBL’s decision to suspend Lee after Perth dobbed the JackJumpers in has been met with near universal derision.
Fans and respected figures across the basketball fraternity have slammed the “antiquated” game review panel’s decision.
From Australian basketball legend Chris Anstey to former MVP and NBL media personality Corey Homicide Williams, the game review panel has been smashed over its decision, sparking calls for a revamp in how the league handles its judicial incidents.
“This is garbage. (Lee’s teammate Jack) McVeigh gave an opponent (Lachlan Olbrich) the people’s elbow Vs Illawarra and nothing was even mentioned. No good man. No good,” Williams said.
Anstey was perplexed: “How in the world could Marcus Lee be suspended given tribunal precedence this season?”
McVeigh avoided any scrutiny for his odd ‘salmon-swimming-upstream’ wrestling smackdown on Olbrich during the Play-in game.
Twice this season, Phoenix star Gary Browne punched big men in non-basketball plays. First Adelaide’s Tohi Smith-Milner, then Brisbane’s Aron Baynes in near identical circumstances.
He avoided suspension for both.
Code Sports asked the NBL who is on the Game Review Panel, but officials refused to release names.
WHY INCREDIBLE DELLY IS ALMOST A LOCK FOR PARIS
As the legend of Matthew Dellavedova continues to grow, the calls grow for the battle-hardened veteran to be on the plane to Paris.
Spurred by the disappointment of missing out on the Boomers’ failed World Cup bid, Dellavedova, 33, is defying the doubters to star for United in their push towards the NBL24 championship.
The veteran guard dropped a game-high 30 points and added 7 rebounds, 10 assists and 4 steals in Thursday’s Playoff win against Illawarra in overtime – the GOAT Andrew Gaze was the last NBL player to produce a line like that.
Named in the All-NBL Second Team in NBL22, Delly was snubbed this season, despite a superior campaign.
He led the league in assists at 6.1 per game and increased his scoring from 10.3 to 12.6 and field goal percentage from 39 to 44.
Dellavedova hasn’t ruled out another NBA payday in the future, but would he be better served remaining in Australia?
Two-time Olympian Chris Anstey believes ‘Delly’ is right in the mix to play for the Boomers at this year’s Olympic Games.
“I’d probably say yes (he makes Paris), but just,” Anstey said about Dellavedova, who played 32 NBA games for Sacramento in the 2022-23 after his NBL22 season with United.
It won’t be easy for Dellavedova to make a stacked Boomers team for Paris – and it might come down to a choice between the Tokyo bronze medallist and young – but injured – gun Dyson Daniels – but he is in-form and personifies the Australian culture through his dogged defence and selfless play.
This is why Boomers coach Brian Goorjian is seriously considering the United star for a fourth Olympic campaign this year.
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