So who do you propose coach the Boomers?

hmm i wouldnt mind seeing al westover have a shot to be honest, he is real passionate and has done well with the melbourne tigers. he seems to have relaxed the egos of the tigers especially when sean lampley came along, why not give him a shot? whats the worst that can happen?

Last night - Epic Fail.

I cannot believe that i actually looked forward to watching last night

flush the toilet when your finished Goorj, make sure you use plenty of toilet paper to soften the blow for the Australian basketball supporters. Our game will be floating out in the pacific somewhere in a weeks time.

Good one Winston. That was more detailed than a Kobe Bryant Rape inquiry.

WG....I have never been a fan of BG as our national coach, but after the disaster of the herewith unmentionable, BA went very safe and secure with their selection. At that point there was NO other option.

Maybe Al is an option, as Boom Patrol has suggested, but he was not even on the radar when BA called on BG to replace the former Adelaide bloke.

Slag all you like...but as Shin Splints has questioned, at least recommend a suitable, qualified and effective alternative?

And while you are at, understand that the very structure of this Olympic tournament means it is by far the toughest group of 12 nations ever assembled for an Olympic games.

Only somewhat related to the thread, but IMO we were always due for a bit of a downer once the actual competition started.

We were going 100%, all cards on the table during the warm-ups IMO, as we do - it's the Aussie way. The better teams simply have another gear when it comes to competitive play.

We have put together half or 3/4 perfect games against the US in the past Olympics and this year's warm-ups and still can't get near them. That tells you something, surely.

Unlike Australia's football federation, which can afford to spend millions to bring in high profile coaching, BA operates on a shoestring budget. I am sure there are many coaches world-wide that would love the Boomers job - think aboout it - we almost* always qualify for major world tournaments due to our Oceania zoning, so the exposure world wide is enormous. Unfortunately it seems as though there is insufficient funds for such a coach.

*except 2002 World Championships

We need a Euro coach. Running college-like sets and having full court traps might work against the weaker teams (and in the NBL), but it won't win us any big games.

Al Westover?? you're joking right?

Boti Nagy SOUNDS European.

I didn't see a frame of the action, but looking at the boxscore it's always going to tough to beat a team who can't miss. The top 5 scorers for Crotatia shot respectively:

5/5 FG
7/8 FG
4/6 FG 4/4 3pFG
5/6 FG 2/2 3pFG
4/9 FG 1/1 3pFG

Ok, it looks like our defense could use some work, but can anyone who saw the game comment as to whether these Croation shots were contested or not?

I'm taking the view that we happened to catch a good team on a crazy shooting night, which sometimes happens, and that we're still well and truly in the hunt for the quarters. At the end of the day a loss by 20 is the same as a loss by 1 on the group tables, although after that result and the Lithuania / Argentina result we're really going to struggle to finish anywhere above 4th in the group which means a match up against Spain or USA in the knock out rounds. Extremely keen to see how we fare against Argentina tomorrow when the pressure's on for both sides.

billo, most were WIDE open. They kicked the ball around the arc, then either found the open man, or penetrated and dished it out. Most frustrating was the fact that many times, we had players just stand and look at them, not even running out.

I agree totally with Winston does anyone really believe brian would have had as much success as a coach if he had players on court he actualy had to coach instead of talented players that can make plays out of nothing? Watching what little of the game last night as channel 7 broadcast(i dont have broadband yet)we seemed to be just going through the motions and getting burned by trying to set the same half court trap which was broken down so easy and always ended up in a lay up by Crotatia. I dont know about you guys but if something isn`t working try something different, not the same crap expecting a different result.And is it just me or does anyone else cringe when David Anderson or Glen Saville enter the court

Goorj success here in australia as a coach has only come due to him being grossly over the salary cap which in turn has gave him a superior roster to play. Internationaly this does not work for him. Next coach should be either joyce or gordie. At least they are two coaches in the nbl who have created success with undermaned squads by creating games suited to there strengths.

I too hope that we have sucess, but even if we do goorj must go and i belive gordie or joyce deserve the gig with leaning to the latter as he has been an assistant for some time and has got more out of his teams his coached than people like westover who is another goorj, ie club blantantly go over salary cap and his team talented up to the max, really westover hasnt had to caoch a game if it bit him on the nuts. my kid bro could have coached the tigers.

Anyway boy goorj has to go

In response to HO, What can I say but HO HO HO! - your logic is wrapped nice and neat as a David Jones Christmas gift but I will meet your question with a stern 'Bah Humbug!'

Yes, I did bash the immanently bashable, thang lovin' Goorj but my reasons are not new. He's been doing his 'thang' for 10 years as my post from the last olympics highlighted.

I take your point about the state of the nation at his last appointment, however I am sick of the 'better the devil you know' attitude that has swept this nation from the backbenchers of parliament on climate change to something as relatively trivial as the selection of a basketball coach.

There are 2 separate points you raise that I will address. Firstly, his original appointment was due to our percieved failure against New Zealand with Captain Comb-over at the helm. A team that had a shocking preperation, lost it's starting five of the previous three campaigns (You may have heard of some of these chaps before - Heal, Gaze, Bradtke among others), was ravaged by injury and was suddenly handed a 180 degree different coaching Phil-osophy that was given a very generous three games to develop. Without making any more excuses, this was so poorly handled that it makes the Children Overboard scandal look like a classified ad.

Secondly, so who do I suggest? My loathing of Goorj is so resolute that if I was to be really cynical (and dare I suggest I could ever be so) I would say - ANYONE ELSE. The Croydon Primary school coach, A pensioner at the bus station, a homeless bum - anyone!

To give you a more rational answer, how about Tom Maher, Jan Stirling, or pretty much any good ABA coach going around. How about a US college coach? The Chineese team is coached by an ex-Lithuanian medal winning coach. Our soccer teams have had a series of Dutch coaches. OK, so the ABA coaches wouldnt have the international experience so this is a problem. My answer then, is simple. Who should replace the head coach of the Boomers, right now? Phil Smyth.

Now before anyone gets their hackles up, here is my logic. Since Bazza Barnes we have not had a 100% dedicated coach. Phil is without a head coaching job and has much of the cred required. Olympic experience - Check (as player and coach). Ability to work with experienced and younger players? - Check. Ability to work with a panel of assistant coaches? - Check. Confidence to let his players play? - Check. The list goes on.

As for the funding question, we have a new Government keen to spend where the previous one neglected. Ask for a grant to overhaul Basketball in this country. Start afresh, with an entirely new BA board. Spend actual money on hiring real, full time people to implement a strategy from grass roots to the top level. We have the talent and the passion, we have just never had the direction. To say that in a country as resourse rich as Australia, with a litany of die-hard sports fans and corperations looking to splash tax benefit dollars towards sponsorship, I just don't buy the 'we are just a poor little basketball operation' any longer.

But, damn the logic on who should replace him. Goorjian is WRONG for Olympic basketball. I'm not saying this on a whim, on a reaction to one stinky game. I'm saying this on 10 years of unchanged history. The little old lady at the bus stop is looking better by the minute....

WG

Do you not think however, that the Boomers perceived sub-par performances over the past decade probably has more to do with the fact that the rest of the world has gotten so much stronger?

Unfortunately I don't think Coach Phil is the ideal candidate for the Boomers, and I also think Goorjian is more suited to the NBL where opposition teams and players are familiar to him. But if Basketball Australia is not prepared to pay big Euros for an international coach, then BG is probably the most credentialed option we have. Andrew Gaze I believe will be an option down the track, once BG's time is up.

WG

I don't mind your response.... its a rant more than an argument but its all good.

Re 2001... I would argue three training camps, a lead up game against Team USA and a Goodwill Games tournament were better preparation for an Oceania Qualifier than Goorj's team has had either of the last two Oceania campaigns (and probably all the ones before it)....but lets not get the facts get in the road of the whinge eh?

In that teams defence, they met a NZ Team absolutely at its best, and it reinforced that the following year.

Now ...about... "implementing a strategy from the grassroots to the top" Do the words "Girls Program" resonate at all with you? Guess who manages that whole top to bottom women's program that culminates with the Opals and their brilliant performances over the last ten - fifteen years? ....let me think...oh yeah.. BA!

BTW I do agree on a full time coach (not at all convinced about your selection) ...but there is no tax benefit in sponsoring sport...it is a business expense and regarded exactly the same as putting a billboard on a bus stop. Its not like the Film Industry where there is a direct tax benefit in investment.

Finally, bash Goorj all you like. I am not a fan of Goorj as national coach - I think his style is all wrong. For me, Shin Splints post above is pretty on the ball in that regard.

Goorj success here in australia as a coach has only come due to him being grossly over the salary cap which in turn has gave him a superior roster to play.

Only because of that, eh?

I don't disagree with the assessment of the Boomers, or whether BG should be questioned as the right guy for the job.....

But drb, you can't keep saying that Goorjian only has success with stacked rosters of guys who are at the tops of their games, etc.

Some of those guys STARTED under Goorjian, Ronaldson, Smith, Mackinnon to name a few. Anstey was a FAR better player after Goorjian was done with him than when he was languishing at the Tigers program. Wortho, Hinder, Kendall et all weren't that much UNTIL Goorj went to Sydney. Go back to guys like Lucas, Parky etc. I reckon your own head coach might have something to say about Goorjian as a coach.

Credit where it's due....he may get good rosters, but he can also make great players.

He also makes them play (normally) pretty good defence, which HAS to be well coached and well drilled.

Goorj's wekness, in my view, is simply that he's never known how to get the best out of his big men and tends to rely on outside play. But THAT has been a Boomers problem for many years now.

I agree with the Westover assessment. While, in fairness, I THINK he's a good coach, he (unlike Goorj) has not proven anything yet. He hasn't had to MAKE a good roster.

As for Joyce?

Starting Boomers PG in London.... Daniel Joyce?

No Thanks.

thats funny DICKO, never thought of SOJ as our starting PG

The reason why Croatia had so many wide open shots was because the had very quick ball movement. Australia on the other hand decided to take at least 2 bery slow dribbles before passing it. I didn't see the whole game (thanks channel 7) but what i did see was that Croatia were in a 2-3 zone. The best way to beat a zone is to have QUICK BALL MOVEMENT.