Goorjian Heaps Praise on Jackomas, Despite Team's Struggles

When changing coaches at the top level a smooth transition rarely happens. With a coaching departure comes change at every level of the organisation, from the players to the administration, and it’s been no different at the Illawarra Hawks.

After two consecutive playoff appearances, Australian basketball legend Briab Goorjian handed the reigns to the Illawarra Hawks over to his protégé Jacob Jackomas. Since taking the top job Jackomas has struggled to replicate the form of his predecessor – going just 1-8 to start the NBL23 campaign and sit rooted to the bottom of the table.

The coaching change kicked off a vast amount of roster change for the Hawks, who have come into the new season with just a handful of players remaining from the successful campaigns of the last two seasons.

Goorjian, who currently coaches the Bay Area Dragons in Hong Kong, says it was always going to be a struggle for anyone replacing him in the hot seat.

“I felt like when I walked away that I was handing him (Jackomas) a pretty damn good package,” Goorjian said on The Huddle. “To be fair to Jacob whoever was in his shoes right now, you’re in a rebuild. It’s hard to rebuild when you’re not Brian Goorjian and you don’t have that credibility.

“For whatever reason there’s been a much larger turnover of personnel than I anticipated. Harry Froling, Isaac White, AC (Antonius Cleveland), (Xavier Rathan-) Mayes, I knew Duop (Reath was) going to be difficult to keep no matter what, and then we had that wonderful situation to have Justinian Jessup, that was going to change.

“It’s not something I wanted to happen to him (Jackomas) and I feel bad for him. Let me tell you this, I’ve been in the game a long time and there ain’t a better human being, and there ain’t a better worker, and I learn from him. Jacob Jackomas is as sharp as a tack.”

The Hawks faithful have a long and powerful history of getting behind their team and helping push them forwards as much as possible. You only need to look at how the club was kept alive in the difficult 2019 and 2020 seasons for evidence of that.

“It’s a really tough community,” Goorjian said of the Hawks’ fans.

“I don’t know what’s gone on with the energy behind the team because I’m not there, but I thought when my time there when it finished, we had the community behind us - and we were filling the stadium for that last home game.

“I’ve worked in Ballarat before and it’s hugs and kisses and ‘we support you and we’ll have a beer with you no matter what’.

“There (Wollongong) it’s ‘we’ll support you, but your team had better be out there throwing punches and you’d better win your share, or you don’t want to walk down through that mall. You’ll get buried’.