LILLE (France) - Coming from Glendale, California, Brian Goorjian probably did not imagine himself becoming an important figure in Australian basketball. And now, it was a trip back to his homeland which is opening a whole new chapter for the Boomers.
Goorjian spent his entire playing career with the Melbourne Tigers, before heading into a coaching role and taking over as the head coach for the Eastside Spectres in 1988. From that point on, he kept coaching, advising and developing players, culminating in 2021, when Australia won their only Olympic medal so far.
Then, in 2023, coach Goorjian decided to take a break after nearly 40 years, and go back to the United States. Turns out, that decision may as well help the Boomers pick up another Olympic medal.
"We created a good bond together," coach said about his time spent with Josh Giddey during the NBA season.
You probably know by now how tough of a season it was for the 21-year-old point forward. Having Goorjian by his side opened up a new perspective, with sights set at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
"I just knew he had a huge focus on this. It's a new start," coach explained it all in a pair of sentences.
Giddey opened up his Olympic account by leading Australia to a 92-80 win over the reigning FIBA EuroBasket champions Spain. He had 17 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, becoming the first player with such numbers in his Olympic debut since the late great Drazen Petrovic in 1984.
Not a surprise for coach Goorjian, who celebrates his 71st birthday on Sunday.
Ball's in his hands, it's orchestrated through him - Coach Goorjian
Meanwhile, Giddey's much improved shooting was a surprise for the other team. Spain tried gambling against his and Dyson Daniels's shooting, but to no avail.
"Those threes were a little bit unexpected. These are great players, you cannot disrespect them, naturally, we didn't. But they were really good making them, especially in the first half, when we managed to stop their paint touches and penetrations, they made the threes," Spain's head coach Sergio Scariolo offered.
It must be the rims, the court or the balls in FIBA environment, because Giddey is now shooting 10-of-19 from beyond the arc this summer, preparation games included.
"Obviously, it's something that I've been working on, spending a lot of time this summer staying in the gym. It was nice to see them go down early," the newest Chicago Bull was pleased with his performances, and with the important win they picked up.
"When they got ahead in the third quarter, we did a good job coming back together as a unit, getting on the front foot again. That's what got us that lead back, we kinda stuck with that momentum going into the fourth."
It's not a coincidence that Giddey chose to praise that moment in the third quarter, because that "coming back together as a unit" part of the game was done with him on the bench. In a game where he nearly got an Olympic triple-double, he praised his teammates for the part of the game when he was benched.
In return, his teammates praised him.
"He awesome to play with it. I played with him back in the NBL for a season with the Adelaide 36ers, but he's one heck of a player. There's a reason he's where he is, we put the ball in his hands and trust him to make plays," Jack McVeigh said.
"He's a guy that can pass the ball, score a ball, great teammate. Just being around him every day, working with him, it's special. I grew up playing with Josh, to be here on the biggest stage, playing with him now, it's something I could only dream of as a kid," Dyson Daniels went a step or two back.
Having Giddey conducting the show and other players in their 20s contributing at this level, that makes is much easier for a legend like Joe Ingles to just enjoy the new era of Aussie basketball.
"The goal is to transition to younger players. I would hope you don't rely on 35-year-olds and 40-year-olds every year to keep going and keep going," he said.
"We've got a ton of young guys that are extremely talented and playing at a high level in the NBA, and for every national team it should be a goal to keep developing those young guys. For them to playing at the level they're playing at, that's great for our country."
This is only the first step. But with that aforementioned bond formed back in the States, we're not talking about the first step of the Olympics. This is more of a powerful first step, straight out of the blocks, because Josh Giddey is off flying in his new start.
FIBA