Article & Journal Resources

Stephen Howell
December 14, 2007

FROM the stands, Nathan Jawai is every centimetre (all 208 of them) and every kilogram (all 130) a man mountain; talk to him and he is a man child — just turned 21, still a learner and with a soft, high-pitched voice more suited to a jockey than to the National Basketball League's biggest man.
Like hundreds of young males, Jawai has elite ambitions, for his country and himself. Unlike the others, he has the talent to get there. There refers to Beijing, for the Olympics, and the US, to play in the world's premier league, the NBA.
If Jawai's performances in the NBL in his debut season and this week in the All-Star game are guideposts, he is well on the road, because he is long odds-on to be rookie of the year as the Cairns Taipans' centre and he was All-Star most valuable player.
The latest performance increased the praise already heaped on the North Queenslander, which he accepted with grace and feet firmly planted on the floor, admitting that standing out in an exhibition match when fun is had and almost no defence is played is much different to the intense competition on the world stage.
Boomers coach Brian Goorjian, in charge of the Aussie All-Stars as they beat the World team 146-141, said of the indigenous big man expected to stand alongside the indigenous little man, Patrick Mills, in Boomers singlets in Beijing: "He's shown me all year that he's a tremendous talent, somebody we're really looking forward to having in (the Olympic selection) camp.
"He's unique … his power around the basket, his court savvy. He's definitely somebody to have a real strong look at, and he's somebody with a bright, bright future."
That future is almost certain to be in the NBA, perhaps as early as the June draft for next season.
Asked if Jawai was ready to go to the NBA, Goorjian said: "Players go though the process of developing as NBA players while they're in the NBA. That's not my (area of) expertise, but I think he's the best talent that has come into our league in a long, long time and I don't think we've had anybody like him in that position.
"The guys in the NBA from Australia that make it are usually bigs … whether he's ready or not ready I think the sky's the limit for him and I think he could play in the NBA at some point in time."
Asked to compare him with another Boomer, Andrew Bogut, taken No. 1 by Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA draft in June 2005, Goorjian said: "They're different players, but I think if Nathan was a senior in university playing somewhere (in the US) he would be a first-round draft pick."
Jawai said his focus was on playing with Cairns and making the Olympic team. "I'm going to try my hardest to try to get in the team," he said. "I haven't really thought about it (the NBA) … if I have a chance to go I'll probably head over there … I think I'm ready, yeah."
Corey Williams, one of the best Americans in the All-Star game, said Jawai had the size, agility and athleticism to be a first-round pick, "but it's all in how hungry he is".
The Age asked Jawai: "How hungry are you?" "Very hungry," he said.
"Starving," said Goorjian. "Starving," agreed Jawai.
That's a good start.