The Culture Behind the Boomers Bronze Medal

The Australian Boomers culture was spoken about a great deal following their bronze medal winning campaign as well as while it was taking place in Tokyo.

Led by the the likes of Patty Mills and Joe Ingles, their success was as much driven by the off-court activities as it was the training and preparation on-court.

Speaking with NBL Media's Liam Santamaria from quarantine in Darwin, head coach Brian Goorjian opened the door on what began in Irvine, California and flowed through to Tokyo via a Bluetooth speaker.

“A huge aspect of this was the music. It's a (music) box, wherever we went, that was carried,” he said.

“When you walked into Irvine (California), the flags, Torres Strait Islander flag, the Aboriginal flag, the Australian flag, Aussie pies, pasties. And the box is in the middle of the floor as everybody is shooting and Matisse (Thybulle) says, what is it? It's Jimmy Barnes, it's Kylie Minogue, it's Cold Chisel.

“In the bus, after the things over, you're coming back, and that thing would be blaring in the back. I'm sitting in the front, and it is mission accomplished and I'm emotional, really emotional.

“I'm sitting in the front and the songs are playing and there's this one, We Are Australian. I'm sitting in the front and that thing comes on and it starts blaring and I start to get that quiver, and you get the little snot on the end of your nose and your eyes start watering and the hair on your arms come up, and I go, man, this is the emotion of it.

“And then after that it was Rose Tattoo, we can't be beaten.”

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The team were battered and bruised after a tough semi-final loss to Team USA, and Goorjian revealed the message he gave to the team in the locker room in preparation for their broze medal game against Slovenia, inspired by the boxing kangaroo.

“The strongest my voice was was after that USA game,” Goorjian said.

“Patty (Mills), Joe (Ingles) and that group expected gold and were dropped to their knees with the loss. I walked into the locker room and there were tears. It was like, this is done. We're done.

“I came in strong and hard. I said, this culture has been strong, you've been great. You performed outside the boundaries. We have set the table to do something that's never been done…I went down that path real hard, head up, back straight, be proud. Boxing kangaroo, we don't take a step backwards.

“It's no good if the culture is just in this room with the 15 players. You are going to showcase this.

“Then I got back to the room and there was a message set loud and clear. We had a meeting and I sat with Joe, Patty and Matt Nielsen and it was brought back to a direction of how we're going to play. They were on board, and we did make some changes leading into that (bronze medal) game.”

The adjustments Goorjian made in the Slovenia game worked to perfection as the Boomers were in control for majority of the game.

In what was the biggest game in Australian basketball history, the 68-year-old explained how even he struggled not to feel the pressure leading into the match.

“The pressure…I've played in finals and been disappointed many times, I've won finals, I know what I'm like on game day, I get up, wash my face…but I was in a knot,” Goorjian said.

“My stomach was tight. I didn't want to go to shootaround, I just want to put the ball up, I got nothing more to say, nothing more to do, let's play. I’ve never felt like it before it.

“On the flip side, with a one minute to go and you've got the game won…never felt anything like it and I've been involved in sport a long time. There's virtually no one in the stadium but I’ve never felt anything like it.”

For Goorjian, who now turns his focus to the Illawarra Hawks and NBL22, he believes that the medal signifies something special for the Boomers program for the years ahead.

“We're going to be a Spain, we're going to be a Lithuania, we're going to be one of those teams knocking on the door for a long period of time with what is set in place with the NBL, Basketball Australia and the Centre of Excellence. The top Australian athletes are going into basketball, as opposed to in the 70s. We're getting the best of the best and they're getting coached.”