I'd go Goorjan purely because of his experience at the internation level. The NBA is completely different game & it would take Brown a while to adjust. BA should take a look at soccer & look at appointing a high profile intertional coach to lead as through to the next Olympics if Goorjian does not want to continue.

IMO I think we need regular international games & tours but I can't see the NBA & European guys wanting to committ like most of the soccer guys do.

"I'd go Goorjan purely because of his experience at the internation level." .. yeah, and cos of all his success and the overachieving he's been doing with his squads ....

Read a rumour somewhere that Brett Brown applied for the gig.

Bring on Brett, Goorj's experience means nothing without success attached to it. Goorj could be assistant/director of coaching/defense coach etc and have input, but would his ego alow it? Me thinks no. What about Mike Dunlap? Would he apply?

Was he (Brown) an assistant Boomers' coach at one stage? I thought he was. Anyone remember for sure?

I see that Dunlap resigned from the Nuggets to be associate head coach at Phoenix.
BA could not come even close to the money he would be getting at UA, so I would count him out on that score alone.

Dunlap still found time to help Goorj run Boomers camps the other year.

I think Goorj/Bevo, or (might get a bias call here) Goorj/Lemanis.

i think a brown/goorjian would be the ideal team.
brown may not have the international exp but on the training court he would be invaluable.
lets face it,the skill set required
(for nba/international)may be varied a little but in the end basic stuff like gaurding pick and rolls etc would be browns stuff.

isaac,goorj/lemanis you are joking arent you ????

Not at all. And not the only one to think it wouldn't be a ridiculous idea. This from someone on OzHoops who seemed to put forward reasonable viewpoints (quoting just a couple of paras here):

People like Bevo and Marty Clarke need a cycle as an assistant (4 years) before they get a look at the top job. I kow Bevo was A/C previously, but it was not one of the top guys and not a full cycle (from memory).

Joyce no freakin way; Gleeson.........(sorry I'm trying to stop laughing, even as an A/C); McLeod maybe as an A/C for the experience but I think time has passed for him as H/C; Lejmanis should get considered for an A/C; Stacker only had success in 97 because of Bruce pulling the keeping things on the straight and narrow; Bruce wold be a fantastic assistant with his great basketball mind, but probably won't get a look as he is such a character (and he is so not politically correct). Other than this, not much else out there.

Peter, Brett Brown was definitely a Boomers assistant some years ago now. Might have been for the Sydney Olympics even?

Definitely agree with the idea of hiring an experienced coach from the US, or possibly Europe (if their English is good).

Goorjian has basically been the best coach we have had over the last 20 years and the last Olympics clearly shows that, for whatever reason, he is not going to get the Boomers to the next echelon.

We need a Hiddink type to come in for 3-4 years and revitalise coaching in this country. Our teams just don't understand how to play collectively and with purpose on both ends of the court. Watching the good Euro teams and the Argies at the last Olympics showed me what a huge gulf there is between us on that score.

Brett Brown was assistant coach to Barry Barnes I think? Remember, he was the old baldy who played Hammerhead Heal for 40 mins+ and left Brett Maher sitting on the bench for the entire Olympic campaign while Hammer was padding his stats?

for australia to go to the next level internationally you would think they would have to start by changing the way the game is played here in oz.
while it is a fast paced spectacle with multi skilled and under sized players, it is possibly as far away from the international game that you can get.
i understand that it is a coaches job to put a team on the court that will have the best chance of beating the other team but at some stage we will need to play every play with more purpose and structure to move up in the world.
the last olympics was incedible.the best basketball i have seen, the standard was so high that every play from the first whistle was important in most games.
coaches in oz need to keep in mind that there is "more than one way to skin a cat" and hopefully the "instant sucess" mentality that has busted so many clubs is a thing of the past!!
until things change in oz, the boomers coaches are quite possibly irrelevant!!!!

Skull, that is really what I am getting at - the way we play in Australia - our basketball 'culture' needs to change. Thats why I think a high profile guy with the national team might not only change the way our elite guys play (and get better results) but set a new benchmark that will filter down to coaches at all levels.

I think the fact that Goorjian's teams have basically come to dominate the league in the last decade says a lot about the lack of new talent in Australia's coaching ranks. Go back to the early 90s, teams were bringing in Brett Brown, Don Monson, Mike Dunlap, and together with Goorjian, they changed the league with their new ways of doing things.

Since then, looking at the Boomers and the league, nothing much has changed. Goorjian keeps doing the same things, because no-one has come along and trumped him. Until that happens, nothing will change.

Gorj never intended to go past Bejiing and he should stick to that. Brett Brown was a very good operator at NBL and Boomers level.

beantown,the nbl has been so much about instant results that you cant really blame coaches for making sure they have a gig next year regardless of the boomers results.
i am not a 36ers fan, but was really excited to see there roster for this season.
on paper it looked like it had all the tools to break down and beat a goorj team.
good penetrating/shooting gaurds,capable slashing 3, mobile 4 that can shoot or muscle and a 5 with nba exp.
i dont care if it was ninnis or santa clause but a rookie coach did not help there cause!!

beantown you are dead right,a new boomers coach,new blood in the coaching ranks of our national league,a new vision for basketball in australia as we try to catch up with the rest of the world!!!