Goorjian blends old cultures to whip up Titans

Posted: Tue 1st Sep, 1998 at 1:24 PM ET

As Good as Brian Goorjian is at coaching basketball's Xs and Os, he must also now instil his team with a culture. The Titans, the NBL entity formed by the Magic-Giants merger that may be formally known as the Victorian Titans, had their first official training run yesterday and Goorjian crammed plenty of tactics into two hours. From today, when Tony Ronaldson and Mike Kelly join practice for the first time, Goorjian will begin to discuss the intangibles and image he wants his team to have. "When we get everybody here, we want to talk about a mindset and a culture we want to build," Goorjian said. "It's not going to be the Magic and it's not going to be the Giants. It's going to be a new thing and I hope it's a nice blend of both. "I'm sure it's going to have the feel of both, but when you put it all together it's going to be unique. It's going to be the Titans." Veteran guard Darryl McDonald gives Goorjian an A1 point guard to run the team and the American is totally committed to the new club. "Once we all come together and gel, we'll be tough," McDonald said.

Patrick Reidy, the last Giants captain, remains without a club, but is believed to be considering Europe as an option for next season. Reidy was one of three nominees for a draft yesterday, but only Andrew Goodwin was taken. Goodwin went to Townsville, while Stephen Whitehead was also overlooked. Of the other players not picked up by the Titans, Andrew Parkinson might go to the CBA, John Dorge might continue in the NBL, David Patrick might go to US college Syracuse, David Anderson might go to Melbourne Tigers or Wollongong Hawks and Ben Knight has signed for Brisbane Bullets. Boomers forward Simon Dwight yesterday signed with West Sydney Razorbacks.

*This article taken directly from the Australian