Boomers eyeing the next big hit
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 - 10:24 AM
Stephen Howell - The Age
Debutant Patrick Mills was a quick hit with fans in the Boomers' Olympic qualifier against New Zealand in Melbourne this week, and by the Beijing Games next year, there could be a second indigenous player in the team who is built to be an even bigger hit.
The player being eyed by coach Brian Goorjian to come into the 12 with 181-centimetre Mills is his 20-year-old mate, Nathan Jawai — all 203 centimetres and 130 kilograms of him.
In fact, if Jawai had not been recovering from a knee injury and getting his weight down after it ballooned to 140 kilograms, he might have been in the team alongside the explosive Mills already, as the first indigenous members of the national senior side since Mills' uncle, Danny Morseu, in the 1980s.
That is the view of Goorjian and former Boomers assistant Alan Black, who will coach Jawai in his National Basketball League debut with Cairns Taipans in the season starting next month.
"I wanted Patrick involved in the program now," Goorjian said.
"I saw him as maybe No. 11 or No. 12 (the likely learner spots in Beijing), as I did Nathan Jawai. Succession planning is important and we need two or three young ones in there for the following games (the world championships in 2010)."
Mills had a third season at the Australian Institute of Sport in his home town, Canberra, last year, whereas Jawai, who came to Cairns from Barnaga in far north Queensland as a 15-year-old identified by Australian football scouts, left the institute for the US.
He came home at Christmas, 14 games into his rookie season with Midland College, a junior school in Texas, after injuring his knee. He signed for two seasons with the Taipans. His knee is better now, but he has had to fight back to fitness after letting his weight go.
Black said he would wait until Jawai produced on court in the NBL before labelling him a future league star and national team player, but said he had the potential to reach those lofty levels.
"He's still learning," Black said. "He wasn't a basketball kid … when he came down here (to Cairns), all the basketball people said come and play a real game, and he did.
"He's big and powerful, but he's quite a bit different to anything we've seen in Australia — he's got quick feet and he's got good hands."
Goorjian had a comparison to draw on. "He looks like Shaq," he said, putting up American giant Shaquille O'Neal as Jawai's type.
"He's powerful, he's a beast. I think that kid's gonna draw more attention (than Mills). People will come out just to look at him.
"Those are the two I wanted. I wanted Jawai before I wanted him (Mills), but he's matured real quick in the past 12 months."
For now, the focus is on Mills as he already is a Boomer.
The hope is Jawai is a boomer, too.
I took the opportunity to introduce myself to Nathan late last year when he'd travelled to Melbourne to see his mate Joe Ingles play live for the South Dragons. He was very courteous and seemed a little surprised I knew who he was. Now, add these two prospects, with Joe Ingles and there you have the three players that should make the Olympic squad next year that Goorjian speaks of. All three have experience playing together at the AIS, and from what I can tell (and Myspace can be accurately relied on) are the best of friends...
Things look very exciting for the Boomers 2008 and Beyond!
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