Goorjian Eyes South Sudan "Spectacle"

Australia’s historic ‘Boomers vs World’ series ahead of the FIBA World Cup is set to be a spectacle, but Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian has his eye on one matchup in particular.

After facing Venezuela and Brazil in its opening two games of the round-robin series, Australia will take on rising stars South Sudan on the final night of the event – and in the final game for each side before the World Cup begins.

Through Goorjian’s almost 50 years in the NBL as a player and coach, he’s seen firsthand the development of the international progression of the competition – and the rise of South Sudanese players within the league.

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“Venezuela and Brazil are both tough teams and are going to be good for us in preparation,” Goorjian told The Sports Podcast. “And then the South Sudan team, a lot of those guys have been developed through the NBL.

“And now a lot of those guys have gone on and represented South Sudan [at AfroBasket].

“The South Sudanese community is really starting to contribute to the NBL … that game is going to be a tremendous spectacle, and really exciting for Australian basketball.”

The likes of Cairns’ Bul Kuol, Melbourne’s Jo Lual-Acuil Jr and uncontracted forward Majok Deng have formed a formidable core of South Sudanese players who have taken the basketball world by storm.

Following their quarter-final defeat to eventual champions Tunisia at FIBA AfroBasket 2021, the nation lost just one game in the qualification phase for the upcoming World Cup.

They will enter the tournament as the second-lowest ranked side competing – and are currently listed as the 62^nd best side in the world according to the official FIBA rankings – but will continue in their goal to shock the world, come August.

Before the tournament begins though, they’ll battle the 17th-ranked Venezuela, 13th-ranked Brazil and third-ranked Australia in the Boomers vs World campaign.

Goorjian says the Boomers’ veterans are looking forward to the opportunity to play on home soil.

“All these guys haven’t played in Australia as a team for a long, long time,” he said. “When you speak to Joe (Ingles) and Patty (Mills) … I know those guys are really, really excited to play on home soil.

“We’ll go up to Cairns and have a camp, then we’ll cut the squad down to 15 and make a decision on the final 12 after those three games.”