Brian Goorjian

Brian Warwick Goorjian (born (1953-07-28)28 July 1953) is an American basketball coach. He is the most successful coach in Australian basketball history. In an NBL coaching career spanning over 20 years since his debut with the Eastside Spectres in 1988 Goorjian has won six championships: two with the South East Melbourne Magic, three with the Sydney Kings and one with the South Dragons. With a win ratio of over 70% Goorjian heads Lindsay Gaze as the most winning coach in NBL history and became the second man after Gaze to coach 600 games. Goorjian was also coach the Australian national team, the Boomers, from 2001 to 2008. Goorjian traveled to China after he finished his commitment with the Boomers in 2009. He became the Coach in General of Dongguan Leopards, a growing team in CBA. He led the Leopards Youth Team to win Championship of the Chinese National Youth League in July, 2009, who only ranked in the 9th position in 2008. With a great success, Goorjian is expected to be promoted as the head coach for the senior team in the 2010–2011 CBA Season.

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.

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 (amazingly, in 22 seasons these two would be the only times a Goorjian-coached team did not qualify for the play-offs and play at least Semi-finals). 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 had lost the 1981 Grand Final (as the Nunawading Spectres) to the Launceston Casino City Tigers). 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 (as of 2016–17) record aggregate Grand Final attendance of 43,605 (average 14,535) fans. Two Grand Final losses were to follow in 1997 (Tigers) 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 (ironically winning one each with both the 36ers (1986) and Magic (1992)) 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 (the first NBL summer season after the league decided that it did not want to compete for fan support against the various winter football codes), 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 (an Australian record) 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

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 (the club's inaugural and as it turned out, only NBL championship) 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.

Australian national team

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.

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-Present

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.

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 (AFL - 365), Allan Jeans (AFL - 358), Tom Hafey (AFL - 336), David Parkin (AFL - 306), Wayne Bennett (NRL - 294 wins) and Tim Sheens (NRL - 235). 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 (contrasting the laid back style of his early mentor Lindsay Gaze). 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.

• NBL Championships: (6) 1992, 1996, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2008–09
• Play-off appearances: (19 consecutive) 1990–present
• Grand Final Appearances: (13) 1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09
• Coach Of The Year: (6) 1992, 1997, 1998, 2001–02, 2007–08, 2008–09

Other Milestones:

• Most NBL games coached

On October 10, 2013, Goorjian was named the coach of the Sydney Kings 25th Anniversary Team.

NBL