OKINAWA, Japan - Brian Goorjian has urged some level of patience.
The Australian Boomers entered this 2023 FIBA World Cup with a mixture of high expectations and somewhat of a transitional mindset - not an easy juggling act - and ultimately bowed out of the tournament before the quarter-finals; their win over Georgia on Sunday a mere consolation.
The expectations part of that equation makes not getting out of the group phase a disappointing outcome, but the feeling among the team is that significant progress has been made; from implementing new, young players into major roles, to searching for a style of play that works.
"I'm not embarrassed," Goorjian, the Boomers' head coach, said.
"I'm gonna go back to Melbourne with my head high. I feel that this isn't a continuation of Rose Gold. I knew, when I re-signed to come back to this, that I'd have to do some nasty stuff, and that we'd be in a position of change.
"As this group came in, I did think we had a chance to win a medal, so that is gonna be a goal. I also knew, with change, with inexperience - style of play, playing together - was a process that was gonna take some time. It's major pieces, guys with the ball in their hands.
"When I started with the Boomers, they didn't qualify for the Worlds. I brought Joe, Patty, Bogut in. It took eight, 10 years for that to eventually become. We're starting over, we're building something exciting and nice, and a huge bright side for our next Olympic campaign in 10 months. There was a lot of good in this."
The theme of the Boomers' messaging after Sunday's win was one of deciphering the best style of play to implement with a new-look group.
The introduction of pieces like Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels, and Xavier Cooks, along with the emergence of Josh Green, among others, means the team is looking at how they can make the most of positional size and athleticism in the FIBA game. It's where the obvious teething over this World Cup stemmed from, but both the playing and coaching group is confident there's been progression over the team's time in Japan.
"With these types of teams, with new guys coming in, it's gonna take time to build that chemistry," Giddey told ESPN, postgame.
"As I said, the more games we play together, the more practices we have, I think that's only gonna continue to grow. As these older guys start to hit the back-end of their careers... it's gonna be a changing of the guard naturally but Patty is one of the best players in international ball, Joey's been doing this for 15 years. It's all gotta come together, in terms of being on the same page.
"Us younger guys coming in. A few of them had a taste of Tokyo at the Olympics, so they got that first international experience under their belts. Myself, Dys, Jack White, X; it's our first taste of real international basketball.
"I've loved playing with these guys. Josh Green, I thought, was awesome this tournament. It was a lot of fun, blending and finding what combinations worked on the floor; some did and some didn't, and that was evident throughout the tournament. Going into Paris, it's gonna be a matter of figuring out what works early on, understanding our identity as a team and sticking to it. I think that's gonna put us in good stead to go chase a gold medal.
"Some of these older guys, the Olympics in Paris might be their last chance. We've gotta find ways to be better on the floor, and I think that'll start with a good training camp. We'll be ready for Paris." There were glimpses of impressive basketball from this Boomers team over this World Cup campaign, but weren't able to put it all together in time; they lost a crucial game to Germany in the first round, then a tournament-ending loss to Slovenia in the second.
The coaching staff leant into a switching style of defence in large stretches, but the chemistry wasn't quite there for it to be as effective as the team would've wanted.
On the other end, the Boomers wanted to push the pace and lean into Giddey's creation, but the personnel wasn't completely there to do that consistently: "We need another big, and we need a couple more shooters in our group," Goorjian said.
Goorjian also confirmed that he'll remain on as head coach of the Boomers - "100 percent," he said, before Joe Ingles added: "He'd better." - and said he won't seek a professional job in the lead-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Instead, he plans to spend his time watching NBL and NBA games, with a focus on how to better this Boomers team going into what he called 'this last shot', presumably for him and some of the program's veterans.
"We've come with a style of play," Goorjian said of the identity of the team.
"We're not a set play team. We're gonna be a pressing team. We're gonna be a running team. We're gonna be a flow team. We're athletic. We've got a nice group of young guys that can play in this at a high level. Giddey, what's that? What's it gonna be? It's gonna be really special. You don't know that until you're here... it's gonna be really special.
"I like the guys we're introducing to this. Coming into this, you're kind of caught in two minds: small ball, play sets. Defensively, the switching. We're gonna go down with pace. A very clear vision here. Also, there's some holes in this. We need another big, and we need a couple more shooters in our group. Again, the picture's clear. I didn't think we were that far off it.
"I look at all the other teams: which team would you like for growth. I think we've got the group... which has the most potential to grow? I think we do."
That potential starts with Giddey, and the 20-year-old was one of the Boomers' bright spots in the World Cup. The point guard averaged a team-high 19.4 points and 6.0 assists per game, to go with 5.0 rebounds a contest.
"I love it. it's been fun," Patty Mills said on playing alongside Giddey. "Being able to make cuts and make reads, knowing that you only need a wink or a blink... they're the things that take me back to San Antonio days, with Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Timmy as well."
With the team being built around Giddey, and with Goorjian looking to play faster and more switchy from a stylistic standpoint, the question of the best roles for Mills and Ingles, respectively, emerged throughout this tournament. Both have the skillset and experience to remain as contributors for the Paris Olympics, but are aware of their role in finding where they fit.
Ingles mentioned how playing more at the four was new for him, and something he had to become more comfortable with. Mills was second on this Boomers team in scoring, but Goorjian wanting to switch a lot defensively elicits questions on whether a more specialised role would suit the combo guard better.
"Being the old guy looking at the Giddeys and these next group of young guys, we learned a lot this tournament on how we wanna play, and what we wanna do, and the best way our team can be the best version of itself," Ingles said.
"From my point of view, [I'm fired up by] the excitement around that and how I can help these young guys... as you get older, you realise you're at the other end of my career... I remember talking with Giddey when he was playing for the 36ers... now it's three years later and I get to play with him. It's an exciting group, it's a really good group of guys.
"Playing for Goorj again... it's a great group of guys. You're gonna have to kill me before you get me out of here."
Progress of this sort can take time; the eight-to-10 years it took for the Boomers to make a World Championship in Goorjian's first time round is a testament to that. However, the pieces in this group are different; they're more talented right now so, while there's still more progress being made - and there should be a level of patience, especially with regard to this World Cup outcome - the high expectations will remain the same.
That transitional element of where this program is doesn't have 10 years to put it all together, though, because the Paris Olympics are 10 months away.