Selectors kissing a medal goodbye?

SYDNEY (The View from Downunder) - It has taken seven months since the Beijing Olympics, but Basketball Australia are almost ready to make an announcement on who will coach the Australian men's basketball team - the Boomers - at the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey, and on to the 2012 London Olympics.

And they might just be kissing a medal goodbye in the process.

There has been much conjecture about who should take the top job, with the incumbent Brian Goorjian the popular choice in basketball circles to retain his position.

For a number of people, though, the Boomers seventh placed finish in Beijing, and double figure victories over Lithuania and European champion Russia were not enough for Goorjian to retain his position.

Former Boomers star point guard Shane Heal believes Basketball Australia should appoint a full time head coach - not one who coaches in the NBL or any other national league - so that the coach can spend his time scouting the EuroBasket, FIBA Tournament of the Americas, and other international competitions.

While this initially makes sense in theory, would you pick a player to represent your country at the highest level of basketball who had only played between 5-10 games for the whole year?

I bet the answer is no.

So why would anyone give serious consideration to employing a coach who would not spend the year on the sidelines fine tuning tactics and strategic in-game decisions with his club team?

It would be a massive risk. He would have to get into the swing of coaching in just a few lead up games before taking on the best coaches in the world.

And while Basketball Australia thankfully hasn't gone down that path, they look set to make another risky move, with San Antonio Spurs Assistant Coach Brett Brown tipped to be announced as Goorjian's successor.

After a global search that identified a number of candidates, including former Chinese coach Jonas Kazlaukas from Lithuania, the field was eventually narrowed to two.

Goorjian and Brown.

Now what is so risky about appointing Brown? You might well ask.

The Spurs are one of the world's power clubs, ranked right up there in the success stakes with the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, CSKA Moscow, Panathinaikos and Real Madrid.

Their culture and work ethic is the envy of most NBA clubs.

But as the USA men's team has proven, it is not success in the NBA that translates to success internationally, rather it is talent + experience in FIBA competitions.

While Brown would no doubt have learnt much from Gregg Popovich and the Spurs organisation, he has not coached his own team at a high level since 2002, when his Sydney Kings were bundled out in the first round of the NBL playoffs.

Brown first coached in the NBL in 1993, and won a championship in his second year, thanks largely to the mercurial play of New York playground legend Daryl Macdonald.

His North Melbourne Giants would compete in the following year's grand final, but that defeat at the hands of the Perth Wildcats spelt the end of Brown's success as a head coach.

Brown was also an assistant coach with the Australian national team under Barry Barnes, and was a part of the team that finished fourth at the 1996 and 200 Olympics. He is very well respected as a basketball brain.

But how will Brown help the Boomers in crunch games at the 2010 FIBA World Championships?

He has not had to make the important mid-game decisions for seven years! Nor has his excellent basketball mind had to think outside the boundaries of the NBA's offence friendly rules.

Taking an NBA mindset into FIBA competition has been shown to be a 'death trap' time and time again in recent years.

Brett Brown should be most welcome in the Boomers camp, there is no doubt he can offer invaluable advice from his time with the all-conquering Spurs.

But Basketball Australia will undo much progress that has been made under the tutelage of Brian Goorjian if it appoints a coach who is essentially a rookie in international play.

The Boomers that finished seventh in Beijing had five players 25 or under, all of whom played a significant role in the team. They are now familiar with Brian Goorjian's offensive and defensive systems, setting the team up for a genuine run at a 2010 medal with their mix of youth and experience.

That hope all but goes out the window the moment Brett Brown is appointed as head coach.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it goes the saying. And when Coach K said he thought the Australian coaching job should be Goorjian's for "the next 80 years", he obviously could see it wasn't broken.

Paulo Kennedy