Hawks Using Albury Stay as “Boot Camp” says Goorjian

Monday, December 28, 2020

The Hawks coach Brian Goorjian is making the most of the unique situation his club finds themselves in just weeks away from the start of the 2020/21 Hungry Jack’s NBL Season, saying their stay in Albury is being used as a “boot camp”.

Photo: The Border Mail

The Hawks coach Brian Goorjian is making the most of the unique situation his club finds themselves in just weeks away from the start of the 2020/21 Hungry Jack’s NBL Season, saying their stay in Albury is being used as a “boot camp”.

The Hawks and Sydney Kings were temporarily relocated to Albury on December 26 due to the New South Wales COVID-19 outbreak.

While some might think the relocation is a disadvantage for the two teams, Goorjian believes the circumstances will benefit his young Hawks.

"Everyone says this is a difficult situation and poor Hawks, poor Kings but I take the view that there are so many positives from this," Goorjian said via The Age.

"For a lot of people this would be horrible and difficult but my team is young, new, hungry and excited.

“We get to put everyone under the one roof, we can do film work at night, we can eat together and Albury has provided us with an excellent place to lift (weights) and the basketball courts are excellent.

"We don't have 32-year-old guys (with families) so there are advantages to that. Our guys are fluid, they can go out, eat a hamburger or throw down a subway, and then we can roll at practice.

"We are using this 10 days like a boot camp to come out of this thing throwing punches for our first game when the league starts."

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Goorjian added he has been amazed by the response his Hawks have made to being moved out of their home base.

"I've been blown away by these guys," Goorjian said.

"That fires me up. Through all this, I'm excited about this and everybody knows this is no one's fault. It's not the NBL's fault, these are unprecedented times and the league is doing everything they can to help us."

The intent and expectation is that both the Kings and Hawks will play their 14 home games in their respective home venues this season, as the NBL continues to work through the current situation.