The Aussies will start their campaign against Nigeria on Sunday and are chasing their first ever men's basketball medal at the Games. They've come close in the past, falling in the bronze medal play-off twice, including losing by a point to Spain in Rio de Janeiro five years ago.

But Hawks legend Saville - who represented Australia at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics - believes Goorjian can take the Boomers another step further this year.

"I think it was demonstrated at the last FIBA World Championships and at the Brazil Olympics that it's pretty much come down to a play, or 15 seconds or 20 seconds of a game. And if my memory serves me correctly, I think in both of those we went down to Spain, and they've demonstrated for a long period of time that they're one of the best in the world," Saville said.

"But I think it's showed that we're moving in the right direction and we get stronger and stronger with every campaign, with more NBA players available. And guys like Patty (Mills), Joe (Ingles) and (Matthew) Dellavedova are hungry to get a medal having fallen just short.

"And Goorj is unbelievable. I think he's shown year in, year out for his entire career that he has an ability to motivate players and he's moved with the times of the game. He coached in my first Olympics in '04 and then in '08, and he's been away from the Australian team and then spent some time over in China, and then obviously recently he's back with the Hawks. He obviously has some connection there to players like Patty and Joe because they were part of the 2008 campaign as well. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they go."

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The Boomers warmed up for the Games with wins over Argentina, the US and Nigeria in Las Vagas last week.

Among the standout performers was new Hawks recruit Duop Reath, who impressed after replacing injured teammate Aron Baynes. Reath tipped in 17 points in the team's 108-69 victory over Nigeria to cement his spot in the squad.

Saville admitted he didn't know much about the seven-foot Reath, but he had shown exciting signs for Hawks and Aussie fans.

"I rely on my 11-year-old son to give me information because he's all across the NBA and all of these new signings. But if he's on the Australian team, he's there for a reason," he said.

"But I understand he's long and athletic, and the perfect prototype for a Brian Goorjian type player for him to grow and flourish as an athlete. Goorj has shown time and time again that players that have a certain athleticism and body time do very well in Goorj's programs, and he gives them opportunities to achieve some pretty lofty standards that he sets for those players.

"And the experience that he's going to get from the Australian team and being surrounded by those players, and then coming back into the Hawks environment will be pretty cool."

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