Smyth and Goorjian to lead NBL All-Stars

Two of the Philips Championship’s most revered coaches and fierce rivals, Phil Smyth of the Adelaide 36ers and Brian Goorjian of the Sydney Kings, will have the honour of leading the two NBL All-Star teams in late December.

Last season, Smyth coached the Aussie NBL All-Stars to a 156-140 victory over Goorjian’s World All-Star Team at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on January 19 but this season their roles will be reversed. Goorjian, who is the current Boomers head coach, will lead the Australian All-Stars against the Smyth-led World All-Stars.

The positions of teams on the ladder at the end of Round 12 were used to determine which coaches would be given the honour of leading the All-Star teams.

The coach whose team was on top of the ladder was assigned the Australian All-Stars and the mentor of the second-placed team was given charge of the World All-Star side.

Goorjian’s Kings, who are currently looking to become the first team ever to win four straight NBL titles, ended Round 12 on top of the ladder with a 13-2 record. Goorjian is the winningest coach in the Championship history and last Thursday became only the second coach to reach 600 NBL games.

This will be his third straight All-Star coaching honour, having also led the Eastern All-Stars in the 2004 All-Star match in Melbourne.

Smyth’s 36ers finished Round 12 in second place on the ladder (13-4), and his team have been a perfect 9-0 at home so far this season.

2005 will be the fifth involvement by Goorjian as either a head coach or assistant in an NBL All-Star Game while it will be Smyth’s second.

The assistant coaches for the NBL All-Star Game will be named at a later date but will be two former NBL legends.

This season’s All-Star Game will be played at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on 27 December with tickets set to go on-sale shortly through Ticketmaster.

The starting five for the two All-Star Teams is currently being determined by a fan vote, with the public able to select their favourite players by either SMS or a 1800 number.

Australian fans can call 1800 894 599 or SMS the name of their favourite player to 1992 7427. New Zealand fans can call 0800 081 462 and leave the name of their favourite player.

Fans should ensure that they leave the first and second names of the player they wish to vote for (on both SMS and toll free numbers) and can vote as many times as they like. Voting for the starters is now open and runs until 12 noon (AEDT) on 30 November.

A panel of regular NBL media will determine the bench (five players per team) and injury reserves (three per team) for the game.

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