Goorjian: Ingles "the difference"

Saturday, August 26, 2023

"He talks, he communicates his feelings, and there’s not a lot of our guys like that. He is unique."

Australian Boomers coach Brian Goorjian has praised veteran Joe Ingles as the “difference” in Friday night’s 98-72 win over Finland to open the FIBA World Cup.

Goorjian believes Ingles led the bench charge, as the second unit helped the Boomers construct a 12-0 run either side of halftime to build an insurmountable lead.

Ingles has been a long-time servant of the Boomers but has seen a change in role lately, playing more at the four and coming off the bench.

The 35-year-old has embraced his new spot and remains as damaging as ever.

“I thought he was the difference,” Goorjian said of Ingles.

“We were in a hole and I thought he shot the ball, he defended, and he is emotional. He talks, he communicates his feelings, and there’s not a lot of our guys like that. He is unique.

“We experimented at the end of Tokyo when we lost (Aron) Baynes and he started to play some four, and now with that depth in the two and three, he is playing a lot more four and he is dangerous there.”

Ingles amassed 13 points off the bench and told NBL Media he has welcomed coming off the bench.

“Yeah, it’s kind of cool,” Ingles said.

“Obviously for my career now, even in the NBA to going to the bench, it’s an adjustment for sure. I don’t care if I come off the bench or start, as long as I’m helping the team and I think my job is to help lead that second unit.”

Boomers star Josh Giddey said the bench was the “difference maker” in the victory.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Josh Giddey made a splash in Okinawa, introducing himself with 14pts, 9reb and 8ast! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIBAWC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FIBAWC</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WinForAustralia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WinForAustralia</a> ?? <a href="https://t.co/Vkua9bMS1E">pic.twitter.com/Vkua9bMS1E</a></p>— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 ? (@FIBAWC) <a href="https://twitter.com/FIBAWC/status/1695022607157047698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Another highlight of the victory was Australia’s defensive dominance and Goorjian has never had the number of weapons at his disposal as he has now.

"We've never had that length and athleticism on the wings like that (in Tokyo) and it was different for Australia,” Goorjian said.

“Now, you add Josh Green, you add Xavier Cooks, you add Jack White. We've got more depth there, it's switchable, and even our point guard's 6'8.

"We're small in the five and four, but I've never had versatility like this, and the depth in versatility that I have now."

Australia’s World Cup campaign continues on Sunday against Germany at 6:30pm AEST live on ESPN.