Family Ties: How Sam Froling redefines the modern big-man

There was a play early in the first quarter of the Hawks clash with the Sydney Kings that saw Sam Froling catch the ball at the top of the three point line. Froling pump fakes the three to get the defender off his feet, takes one dribble down the lane and launches from between the free throw line and the restricted area, dropping the hammer on the Kings.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WITH AUTHORITY ? <a href="https://twitter.com/sfrol13?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sfrol13</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/i6fYy5rMfz">pic.twitter.com/i6fYy5rMfz</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1369936591121121280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Barely a minute later, Froling catches the ball in the exact same situation, and hits the three with ease.

Finding players with that specific skill set is rare and pairing them with a seven-foot frame is near impossible. For Sam Froling though, that was just how he learnt to play the game. “That was something that dad really pushed on to me and my siblings was you’ve got to be able to shoot and dribble from a young age; no matter how tall you are you've got to have all the skills.”

Sam Froling measures in at 215cm, or seven foot tall. However, while Hawks players such as Ogilvy and Bairstow may play as traditional big men, Froling is a bonafide swing-man, able to shoot, dribble and pass with ease. But this isn’t by chance.

“The way I move and my body shape kind of translates, it's the style of play that suits me a bit more, so that's been something that I've always worked on and something I can probably keep improving on,” said Sam Froling.

Behind Sam’s continued development is a pair of influential coaching figures, both of whom have helped polish his multifaceted talent on the court. And it starts with his Dad.

“Dad’s a coach at heart, he loves to coach, and he’s pretty good at it,” said Sam Froling.

Shane Froling, Sam's father, was also an NBL player who played for the Eastside Melbourne Spectres, Hobart Devils, Brisbane Bullets and the Townsville Suns. He then moved into the coaching realm, spending nine years as an assistant coach for the Townsville Crocodiles.

Apart from his professional career, he also coached his four children - Sam, Harry, Alicia and Keely - all of whom currently play in the NBL and WNBL respectively. He continues to follow Sam’s career, and offers insight into his performance so far this year:

“With Sam this year I’ve seen his footwork improve greatly, everytime the ball moves he moves on defence, I’ve seen him really getting in much better stance and being in the right positioning,” said Shane Froling.

“I definitely see Sam needs to work on shot consistency, and range, he definitely needs to keep doing that, keep working on physical strength, and keep improving his defence.

“Some of his moves could be a little quicker, at times he's got the slow dribble down moves, I’d like to see a couple of quicker moves.

“He'll get better over time, he's young and has got a long career ahead of him,” said Shane Froling.

Another coach who has played a significant role in Sam’s development is Hawks coach Brian Goorjian, who Sam credits with helping him take the next step in his career.

“Behind the development has just been the off-season work, I’m in the best shape of my life, me and Jacob Jakomas have been doing individually since June last year, we've been doing a lot of work,” said Sam Froling.

“Even when me and Jacob were working out just one on one, we were filming it and sending it to Goorj, he was watching it and giving feedback, and he just knows so much, so it's been really good to learn from him, its helped build my game learning off probably the greatest coach in Australian history.

“I think I am in the running for (Most Improved Player), it's not a major thing for me to win it but it'd be cool if i do, I'd be happy to,” said Sam Froling.

Sam was very quick to buy into Goorjian’s system, and this is in part due to the fact Sam is not the first Froling Goorjian has coached in the NBL. Shane Froling played under Goorjian in his first year in the league, something both father and son are extremely excited about.

“I heard nothing but good things about Goorj from Dad and other guys who played for him so I was really excited to get out there and play for him,” said Sam Froling

“It's probably cool for dad and Goorj, that he's come full circle.

“Dad was playing for Goorj in Goorj’s first year in the NBL, and now his first year back in the NBL after a break he's coaching Dad’s kid, so it's pretty cool,” said Sam Froling.

Shane Froling agreed, saying he could not imagine a better coach or situation to fully develop Sam’s skills.

“Brian Goorjian's developmental abilities are fantastic, to see how he develops players totally and gets them to want to play for him is a special thing,” said Shane Froling.

“I think (the Hawks) are a really good shot at finals, the only time I've really seen them fall down is defensively a few times, in certain quarters.

“If they can tidy that up, which is an aspect of the game I know Brian focuses on, I see them being a top four contender,” said Shane Froling.

Sam Froling has been having an outstanding sophomore year for the Hawks, including a career-high 20 point effort against the Sydney Kings, one which Goorjian was quick to praise him for.

“Sam's role in this was huge, for a young man to perform like that under the pressure we were under tonight is a big one early in his career,” said Goorjian.

Eventually Sam Froling aims to play in the NBA, the best league in the world, and dreams of representing Australia at the Olympics.

For now, he’s set on establishing himself as the best Froling Australian basketball has ever seen. But if you ask him if he thinks he’s the best in the family?

“No question, no doubt in my mind.”

Written by Jed Wells for Hawks Media.