Skyhook
Years ago
C-Games :Boy Goorj making excuses ?
Here's the article (SMH online):
" NATIONAL coach Brian Goorjian believes that having "slept with the enemy" during the domestic season, Australia have enhanced the chances of New Zealand snatching the Commonwealth Games gold medal from them.
The Boomers are considered the favourites to win gold in Melbourne, with the Tall Blacks expected to battle them for the major medal.
And, according to Goorjian, because many of the New Zealand squad play together in the NBL with the Breakers, the Kiwis may be better prepared for the Games than Australia.
"I think they are the team for us to beat," Goorjian said. "Having two naturalised players in there [Casey Frank and Ed Book] will help them, and they are bringing their coach back from Turkey and bringing one of their star players, Pero Cameron, back from Turkey, just for the Games & so they will be tough.
"I think New Zealand is respected more around the world than they are in Australia.
"This team beat Australia in a [world championship] qualifying series, they have beaten us a couple of times in other games, and have performed very well at the Olympics.
"And I think the NBL - our domestic competition - does New Zealand a huge service in developing their team. They've got the majority of their [national] group playing on their team, and training together all the time.
"If you said what's best to do well in these events, it would be to get all your top players together and have them play in a competition. New Zealand has that going, and that's going to make for an organised, talented team and stiff competition."
Goorjian will now concentrate on bringing his team together in the lead-up to the Games.
"Right now we've got a short period to prepare, five days, and our issue will be getting these guys to play together who have never played together," he said.
"There won't be too much focus on the opposition, we'll keep things simple, get good at a few things, and then when we get to the tournament we'll be doing our homework on who we are playing against."
Apart from the Tall Blacks, Goorjian tipped Nigeria and England to provide stiff competition for the Boomers.
Meanwhile, the NBL and the players association announced yesterday that the salary cap for next season would increase to $776,000 per team, lifting just over five per cent from the 2005-06 season. "
-----Is anyone else a little tired of BA and Goorj saying that we ARE NOT an absolute lock for the GOLD at the Commonwealth games ??
There will be something seriously wrong with us if we lose to NZ.
Does anyone know anything about Nigeria or England , or is Goorj just trying to make the Boomers relevant and stay in the media by hyping them ?
