SYDNEY (FIBA World Championship) - Australian National Team coach Brian Goorjian has taken the unusual step of downplaying expectations for the Boomers in the upcoming FIBA world championship.
Following former Boomers coach Phil Smyth's description of this Australian side as the "best ever", Goorjian has doused hopes of winning a medal, saying the Boomers will need to "pull a rabbit out of their hat" just to make the final 16 in Japan.
The Californian born coach had just returned from a month long visit to the United States that included meetings with Australian NBA players, Andrew Bogut and Luke Schenscher, and numerous college stars, including Aaron Bruce of Baylor, who has been named in the Boomers initial 35 man squad.
Goorjian also used the trip to scout international players who are competing in the NBA playoffs, and he was impressed with what he saw.
We've got our hands full." Goorjian opined, "the thing that stands out loud and clear is our country has no idea. It has absolutely zero idea what we're competing against and what's going on in the rest of the world.
Goorjian's comments come in light of Australia's ninth place finish at the Athens Olympics, his first major tournament as national team coach. This was Australia's worst result at the Olympics since 1972 in Munich.
While the Sydney Kings (Australian NBL) boss survived the following review of his position, a similar result in August could well spell the end of his coaching tenure.
Former coach Smyth was forced to resign after failing to qualify for the 2002 FIBA World Championships, while his predecessor Barry Barnes was criticized for his fourth finish at the Sydney Olympics, and chose to retire.
Given Australia's recent outstanding performances in FIBA U19 World Championships (1995 - 2nd, 1999 - 2nd, 2003 - 1st) there can be little doubt this squad does possess world class talent. None more so than MVP of the 2003 FIBA U19 World Championship and Milwaukee Bucks starting power forward Andrew Bogut.
"When I took him away to Athens he was only 18 (actually 19) and not fully developed. Here we are now and he's evolved into a super player," Goorjian said.
He added that Bogut is "committed to the world championships and he'll be there in Japan in August."
Despite this, Goorjian believes these Boomers will have to play at a level above that of previous Australian teams, including those that finished 4th at the 1988, 1996 and 2000 Olympics.
"We need contributions from a lot more than him (Bogut) in order to be competitive."
"We're going to have to play with a hardness and toughness that no Australian team has ever played with before… we've got a bunch of new players that need to learn a new system in a short period of time."
Australia begins its FIBA World Championship campaign against Brazil on Saturday, August 19th.
Paul Kennedy
FIBA Official Correspondent in Australia