750 games in and Goorjian is still finding new ways to win

When Brian Goorjian claimed the record for most NBL games coached, it was in a late January clash against the West Sydney Razorbacks in 2007. Now more than a decade later, Goorjian is back in the NBL and became the first NBL coach to 750 games in a dominant win emblematic of his stellar career helming basketball teams. Goorjian is undoubtedly the most experienced coach in Australian basketball history. But if you ask him, he’s only just getting started.

“It’s so funny because I feel like a young coach learning my craft here, I’m so appreciative to be back in the league, I'm so appreciative to be with the Hawks and in Wollongong trying to build this thing," Goorjian said.

Goorjian was an NBL head coach from 1988 to 2009, winning six championships and just as many Coach of the Year awards. He then pulled a ‘Jordan’, winning a title with the South Dragon’s before taking an NBL sabbatical, seeking opportunities in China. Eleven years later, he was lured back down under and on the 13th of March, Brian ‘Goorj’ Goorjian coached in his 750th game of NBL basketball.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ICYMI - all the highlights from last night's huge 77-69 win over United. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/XNZnRusRAo">pic.twitter.com/XNZnRusRAo</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1370906027676213258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“To be involved in 750, that means time, that means you've been able to stay in this environment at a high level and compete and I'm really thankful,” Goorjian said.

“It is really important, really important - because if you said to me - and I’m talking to a young coach, what's the sign of success in our industry? It's keeping your job, it’s staying in it, it’s being involved in your passion, what you love, and feeding your family through that.”

It's just a reminder of how fortunate I’ve been that I’ve been in my passion and in a game like this for this long.”

“I do take note of that, to be truthful I didn't know it was coming but that's quite an honour,” Goorjian said.

Not only does Goorjian have longevity on his side, but a level of success that all coaches would be envious of. Throughout his NBL career, he has only failed to qualify for the playoffs in two seasons, his first two seasons coaching the Eastside Spectres. That’s what made Goorjian joining the Illawarra Hawks, 2020’s NBL wooden-spooners, that much more tantalising, for the NBL, for Australian basketball fans, and for Goorjian himself.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">750 <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBL</a> games for the ? and still going strong.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/Q15Frfzh7h">pic.twitter.com/Q15Frfzh7h</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1370536444352028672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"If you look at all the challenges I’ve ever been involved in, I think this one leads the charge, just the fact of starting from nothing, a whole new office, a whole new ownership, COVID, and a young team, and the league being what the league is,” Goorjian said.

“This has been full of surprises, a lot of things learnt, a lot of mistakes made, a lot of growth, I walked into something that's really challenging.”

“It’s brutal and it’s challenging and I love it,” Goorjian said.

But Goorjian will be Goorjian, and the Hawks have flourished as a result. They are currently sitting third on the NBL ladder with a record of nine wins and four losses, including a blistering hot four-straight to begin the season. And while the NBL Bubble may not have been kind to them, Goorjian is confident his team can regain composure for the remainder of their campaign.

“When you look statistically at our style of play, it was real interesting over that four game block, my voice on the sideline was always ‘no foul, no foul, no fouls’, and we worked very hard on the defensive end leading into the start of the season,” Goorjian said.

“If you go through those four games we only allowed one time where the opposition got to the free-throw line in the penalty situation, and we won all free-throw counts.”

I’m not building a brand new team from scratch, [without going] through some disappointment and some process”

One thing I can say about the group, and I’ve said it throughout, the day-to-day has been very good,” Goorjian said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congrats to Brian Goorjian for 750 NBL games coached.<br><br>Goorjian 750 games for 523 wins at 69.73% career winning clip.<br><br>Some Aussie champion coaches to compare:<br>Wayne Bennett 862 for 533 wins 61.83%<br>Craig Bellamy 473 for 328 wins 69.34%<br>Jock McHale 655 for 440 wins 67.79%<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/AySWharu00">pic.twitter.com/AySWharu00</a></p>— NBLfacts (@nblfacts) <a href="https://twitter.com/nblfacts/status/1370701660348018688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Despite his lengthy tenure, Goorjian is also aware the game is slowly changing, and he in turn is more than willing to change with it. This is helped in part by a lineup composed of versatile players who can fit different roles where needed.

“Right now we’re organised where we have two bigs on the floor, in this era and the way the games being played I consider Cam [Bairstow] and AJ [Ogilvy] fives, and I consider [Sam] Froling a guy that can play the five and hold his own against certain lineups, and also play the four,” Goorjian said.

“I have some players that are positionless, like a kid like Justin Simon, I think he can play four-three-two.”

I’m experimenting with that positionless basketball where multiple guys can handle the ball, they're interchangeable, you can switch on defence, and there's only one guy who's playing around the basket.”

I can play positionless ball with some groups, and then I can play with the two bigs,” Goorjian said.

As the Hawks near the half-way point of the season, they find themselves in a position they have not become accustomed to in previous years; the top three. But as any head coach will tell you, you don’t get points for almost and there’s no championship trophy for halfway. (There is one for the NBL Cup, but that’s another matter).

Goorjian and the new look Illawarra Hawks took the league by storm, but the league has caught up. A seventh championship is the goal for Brian Goorjian and he has the pieces around him to get there. But he knows more than anyone that a trip back to the promised land is not going to be a cakewalk.

“I’m new as the coach, it’s a brand new team, we’re going to take some punches in the face," Goorjian said.