White praises "collaborative" Boomers

The Boomers may have suffered a small setback to their World Cup preparations following Wednesday night’s defeat to Brazil, but forward Jack White has backed the side in its goal to continue to compete for a medal.

White’s name has been thrown up by various fans and outlets as being the potential final cut from the squad, but he impressed with his energy and intensity off the bench in the four-point loss, and finished with nine points and four rebounds – all offensive – in under 11 minutes of court time.

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Head coach Brian Goorjian is looking to add to the side’s Olympic bronze medal from 2021, and White has praised the player-first environment that has been created by the six-time NBL Coach of the Year.

“It’s more of a collaborative environment,” White told SEN. “Being out on the floor it’s definitely empowering. He gives guys a lot of freedom.

“We have things in place with what we want to do defensively and offensively, but as long as we play hard, we realise we’re going to make mistakes trying to do things the right way and that’s part of the reason we have these games and we have these camps.

“Goorj is a player’s coach, and he puts a lot of belief into his players, and when we have guys like Joe [Ingles] and Patty [Mills] and CG [Chris Goulding] and guys that have been around the program for a long time and understand what it takes and have been to all these tournaments, it’s a luxury to have in your corner.

“A number of guys can be seen as being coaches out on the court and it makes the whole experience much more enjoyable.”

Since returning from a serious Achilles rupture with Melbourne United in NBL22, White has experienced a meteoric rise in the Australian basketball landscape.

The former Duke Blue Devil was a cog in Denver’s NBA title and played 17 games for the side, en route to the championship.

He has since signed a contract with Josh Giddey’s Oklahoma City Thunder and could prove crucial to Australia’s World Cup hopes.

There is still one player to be cut from the squad, however, and White’s name has been thrown in with the likes of reigning NBL MVP Xavier Cooks, Olympic medallist Chris Goulding and New Orleans’ Dyson Daniels as potential omissions from the final squad.

White says he knows he has to continue to put his best foot forward in order to earn his place on the plane.

“[I] just play my role. Play hard, defend, talk, rebound, space the floor. I can definitely work on trying to work out how I can contribute with my shooting in a better way for the group,” he said.

“In saying that whenever I’m out there I’m just trying to represent our country the right way and just play hard and contribute to winning, and that’s what everyone is on the same page about.

“All our egos are left at the door – everyone just wants to win, do our country proud and bring him medals, particularly gold medals.

“I’m doing whatever I can to make that dream a reality, just trying to take it day by day. I can’t look too far ahead; I just want to enjoy the moment and maximise how I can help our team win.”