Brian Goorjian
Brian Warwick Goorjian is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of The Hawks of the National Basketball League. He is the winningest coach in Australian basketball and his career has been called the most successful in NBL history by Basketball Australia. In an NBL coaching career spanning over 20 years, Goorjian has won six championships: two with the South East Melbourne Magic, three with the Sydney Kings and one with the South Dragons. He served as the head coach of the Australia men's national basketball team from 2001 to 2008.
In 2009, Goorjian became the head coach of the Dongguan Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association and stayed with the team for six seasons. He served as an assistant coach for the Guangdong Southern Tigers from 2015 to 2016 and as a special advisor to the Shanghai Sharks from 2016 to 2018. Goorjian returned to coaching duties when he joined the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in 2018 as an assistant coach for one season. After spending a decade in the CBA, he returned to the NBL in 2020 as the head coach of the Hawks.
Early career
Brian Goorjian was born in Glendale, California. Goorjian first arrived in Australia in 1977 and played for Port Melbourne Baseball club under coach Frank Thier, he later went on to play Basketball for the Melbourne Tigers under Lindsay Gaze. In 1984 he captained the Melbourne Tigers in their first National Basketball League season. Goorjian's coaching career began in 1985 as assistant coach with the Geelong Supercats.Coaching career
Eastside Spectres (1988–1991)
Goorjian's first head coaching job came in 1988 when he coached the Eastside Melbourne Spectres. The team missed the finals in Goorjian's first two seasons. In 1990, the Spectres bowed out in the semi-finals and the next year they went one better by making the Grand Final for only the second time in the club's history. They lost this final to the defending champion Perth Wildcats, however in the off-season the team merged with the Southern Melbourne Saints to form the South East Melbourne Magic with Goorjian named as the new Magic coach.South East Melbourne Magic (1992–1998)
Success at the Magic came instantly, as Goorjian won the first of his six championships, and the first of his six Lindsay Gaze Coach of the Year awards, in 1992. The 1992 Grand Final series against the Lindsay Gaze coached Melbourne Tigers saw the Magic emerge with a 2–1 series win. Three consecutive semi-final losses were followed by a second championship, and another Coach of the Year award, in 1996 when they again defeated the Tigers in a series where all three games were played at the league's then largest venue, the 15,300 capacity National Tennis Centre which was home to both clubs, and drew the still standing record aggregate Grand Final attendance of 43,605 fans. Two Grand Final losses were to follow in 1997 and in 1998 to the Adelaide 36ers who had a rookie coach in Australian basketball legend Phil Smyth, and who surprisingly to that point had only ever recorded one win over the Magic since 1992.The 1998 Magic team was hailed as one of the NBL's best ever teams after going 26–4 through the regular season and easily sweeping the Brisbane Bullets in their Semi-final series, but were swept 2–0 by the 36ers in a stunning capitulation. The 1998 Magic team was loaded with talent, including Australian Boomers players John Dorge, Brett Wheeler, Tony Ronaldson and Sam Mackinnon as well as captain Jason Smith, Frank Drmic and the NBL's 1998 Best Defensive Player Award winner Mike Kelly. Also on that team was Billy Mccaffrey. The Magic lost Game 1 100–93 in Adelaide before being mauled 90–62 in Game 2 at the Tennis Centre. While the Magic under Goorjian were seen as the best team in the NBL at the time, it must be said that the 36ers were also a very talented team, boasting former NBL MVP and Grand Final MVP Mark Davis, former Perth championship forward Martin Cattalini, North Melbourne Giants 1994 Grand Final MVP Paul Rees, former Denver Nuggets NBA players Darnell Mee and Kevin Brooks, team captain and Aussie Boomers point guard Brett Maher as well as two time NBL championship winner and Magic ) Scott Ninnis.
Following the loss to the 36ers, Goorjian had another change of team by merger, this time due to the Magic merging with cross-town rivals the North Melbourne Giants to form the Victoria Titans.
Victoria Titans (1998–2002)
Amazingly, the agony was to continue for Goorjian as his two Grand Final losses at the Magic were followed by two more Grand Final losses at the Titans, making a total of four consecutive Grand Final defeats for Goorjian. The Titans lost 2–1 to defending champions Adelaide in 1998–99, before being swept 2–0 by the Perth Wildcats in 1999–2000. Aside from being the only coach in Australian history to lose four consecutive grand finals, he was unable to add to his trophy cabinet at the Titans as two semi-final eliminations followed. At the end of the 2001–02 season, the financially struggling Victoria Titans went into administration and were sold to new owners associated with the former North Melbourne Giants, who controversially fired Goorjian who by this time was regarded as not only the best basketball coach in Australia but the southern hemisphere.Sydney Kings (2002–2008)
The Sydney Kings capitalised on the Titans' controversial decision to part ways with Goorjian after the 2002 season, and he moved north to replace the San Antonio Spurs-bound Brett Brown. What followed was a period of success unrivalled in Sydney's history. Three titles came in the space of four seasons as the Kings swept all before them, becoming the first NBL team to win 3 consecutive championships in 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05 before finishing as beaten Grand Finalists in 2005–06 and 2007–08. Goorjian, who had brought his captain Jason Smith with him from the Titans, coached Sydney to five Grand Final series in six years, despite being forced to constantly re-build the team after each season. He won his fifth Coach of the Year award as the Kings went 27-3 during the 2007-08 regular season. However, they were unable to turn this success into a fourth championship, going down narrowly to the Melbourne Tigers.South Dragons (2008–2009)
On April 1, 2008, Goorjian signed a three-year contract with new Melbourne club South Dragons, and signed Mark Worthington from his Sydney Kings squad to join him at the Dragons. Goorjian led the Dragons to the 2008–09 NBL title in his first season with them. Unfortunately, the South Dragons folded at the end of the season despite their title win, prompting Goorjian to seek a position overseas. He won his sixth Coach of the Year award with the Dragons in 2009.Dongguan Leopards (2009–2015)
Brian Goorjian was the head coach of the Dongguan Leopards. After the 2014-2015 CBA Season ended, Goorjian left the Leopards.Guangdong Tigers (2015–2016)
Goorjian stepped away from head coaching duties, and became associate coach of the Guangdong Southern Tigers in early 2015, responsible for player development, talent identification, scouting and game analysis.Shanghai Sharks (2016–2018)
After the CBA season has finished, Goorjian became Special Advisor of the Shanghai Sharks in early 2016, responsible for player development, talent identification, scouting and game analysis. Following the 2017-2018 season he left the club.Xinjiang Flying Tigers (2018–2019)
After leaving the Sharks, Goorijan moved to the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in 2018 as an assistant coach, and remained there for one season.The Hawks (2020–present)
On June 23, 2020, returned to Australia and signed with the The Hawks of the NBL as their new head coach.National team career
After Phil Smyth's less than one-year term as the Australian Boomers coach in 2001 which resulted in the team's shock non-qualification for the 2002 World Championships, Goorjian was appointed as coach in late 2001 when Smyth resigned and would hold the position until 2008. By becoming the Boomers coach, Goorjian was the first foreign born coach to the team in its history. Under his tutelage, the Boomers qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics, where they finished ninth, dropping five places from their 2000 finish. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the boomers improved their ranking to finish 7th.Coaching profile
Having won 511 games at a winning percentage of 70% Goorjian's record exceeds that of Australian coaching legends in the other major professional leagues including Kevin Sheedy, Allan Jeans, Tom Hafey, David Parkin, Wayne Bennett and Tim Sheens. In 2003 the NBL Hall of Fame selection committee voted Brian Goorjian the best coach of the first 25 years of the National Basketball League. In one of the notable statistics in sport, Goorjian-coached teams finished no worse than the semi-finals every year from 1990–2009. He has also coached teams to a record 12 grand finals and won 'Coach of the Year' on six occasions.Goorjian is also known for his intense coaching style. His former assistant coach Bill Tomlinson says the detail he paid to defence was notable, as was the emphasis on strength and conditioning which often made Goorjian coached teams the fittest in the league. He said he sat down for his first six games in 1988, which he lost, and has stood during games ever since.
On October 10, 2013, Goorjian was named the coach of the Sydney Kings 25th Anniversary Team.