Brian Goorjian has been re-appointed Head Coach of the Australian men’s basketball team through to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The five-member Basketball Australia panel unanimously recommended he continue in the role he has held since 2002 despite the Boomers placing 9th and the Athens Olympics in 2004 and the August World Championships in Japan.

The Boomers reached the second round in Japan before being thrashed by eventual bronze medallists the United States. The inexperienced Australian team did however show a lot of promise earlier in the tournament after being hit by a number of high-profile withdrawals in the lead-up, including injured trio Chris Anstey, David Anderson and Glen Saville.

“I appreciate BA giving me the opportunity to finish the job,” Goorjian said.

“Upon my appointment the program was struggling, we hadn’t qualified for the world championships in 2002 and everybody knew it was going to be a lot of work to bring the program back up.

“We’ve established a code of behavior and we’ve improved the guys physically and I think we’ve improved defensively, but we need to get those guys in this system on a consistent basis over the next two years in the lead-up to the Olympic Games.

“If we can do that, the 12 best players in this country are pretty good, so I’m excited. The final analysis will depend on how we perform in Beijing.”

“I have no doubt that Brian is the right man for the job,” Basketball Australia President John Maddock said.

“We look forward to supporting Brian in our quest to secure a medal in Beijing.”

Goorjian’s appointment follows the re-instatement of women’s coach Jan Stirling earlier in the week. Stirling led the Opals to an historic World Championship gold in Brazil in September.

AOC