Illawarra Hawks aim to make Wollongong the last stop on Brian Goorjian's journey

Goorjian has the Boomers humming ahead of the Olympics, defeating Argentina, an NBA-stacked USA and Nigeria in three warm-up outings in Las Vegas.

Wednesday's staggering 108-69 blowout of Nigeria - who'd also defeated the US and Argentina en route - came with Patty Mills, Aaron Baynes, Joe Ingles and Matthew Dellevadova all riding the pine.

Melbourne United star Chris Goulding was in breathtaking touch from deep, dropping 7-7 from three-point range and adding four assists. Soon-to-be Hawk Duop Reath had 17 points as the Boomers landed an early blow one of their pool rivals in Tokyo.

It's seen the odds of Australia claiming its first OIympics medal in men's basketball shorten dramatically ahead of the Games.

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It would erase the only thing close to a blemish on Goorjian's resume, having finished ninth and seventh at the Athens and Beijing Olympics' - though neither crop boasted the talent he has at his disposal this time around.

His return to national team duties comes after removing all doubt as to whether he still had the magic on his return to the NBL, taking the Hawks back to the finals and continuing a personal unbroken run of 21 straight trips to the post-season.

He'll begin the second season of a two-year deal with the Hawks on his return from the Games. He'll be 68 but shows no signs of slowing down.

The ball remains in his court as to when and where he finishes up, but Hawks president Dorry Kordahi is determined to ensure that he ultimately draws the curtain in Wollongong.

"I want to see Goorj retire in Wollongong," Kordahi said.

"That's our goal. A lot was built on trust when we first came in together and we want to build on that.

"Last year was a bit challenging with COVID and everything was done on the fly. There was no real structure to how we were doing things and it was really hard to build a new team, new staff, new culture with curve balls being constantly thrown at you.

"This year we've got a bit of space, it's a very short off-season, but our staff have been working together for a number of months now and my aim is to work with Brian and discuss plans for longer than next year. We definitely want him there for the long haul."

The Hawks have locked down star guard Tyler Harvey, who's developed a close bond with Goorjian, for three more seasons.

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The impact of both, and signings still to be announced, will mean the Hawks won't be able to fly under the radar the way they did for large chunks of last season.

"I think last year having the roster we had we caught a lot of teams off guard because there were a lot of unknowns with the team we put together," Kordahi said.

"We're not going to be on the undercard this coming season. I don't think there'll be that small-town mentality as far as the way other clubs think of us.

"That's great. We don't want to be second fiddle in this league. With the team we've put together and the further signings we are going to be announcing soon, we're definitely not going to under the radar when teams play us.

"We're going to need to be better prepared, we've got guys coming back so there'll be a little bit more cohesion and a winning mentality and culture is only going to grow stronger."

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