Illawarra Hawks coach Brian Goorjian has labelled his Coach of the Year nomination a team accolade.
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The six-time NBL championship winner is in line for his sixth award after guiding the Hawks to the playoffs in his first year in charge.
It's a squad many wrote off as not talented enough at the start of the season.
While proud to be nominated, Goorjian said it's a sign of how far his players have come this year.
"It is an honour and the great part about it and what makes it important is what it says is this is the guy that gets the most out of what he's got," Goorjian said. "For me, it's the ultimate team award.
"Of all the teams I've had over the course of the years, and that's six championship teams in the league, I don't think any team I've had has squeezed more out of what they've got in the amount of time they've got.
"Whatever happens with that award, it's totally about this group squeezing everything they've got out of who they are."