The finest performance of Sam Froling’s career

An epic comeback, and arguably the finest performance of Sam Froling’s career, wasn’t quite enough for the Hawks on Monday night. 

After setting a club record for points in a half against New Zealand (69) on Friday night, the Hawks were almost in comparison, unwatchable through the opening two terms against Adelaide in what looked a carbon copy of their last trip to the same arena.  

It saw the Sixers lead by as much as 25 points, and by 20 at halftime, before Froling put his team on his back and dragged it back into the contest. The co-skipper finished with 35 points, 13 rebounds, seven of them on the offensive glass, to go with two assists. 

Combined with a timely cameo from Darius Days, who went from 0-5 from long range through 37 minutes, to 3-9 through 39, it cut a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to just two with eight seconds left. 

 Illawarra managed to force a stop on the final play, but Tyler Harvey’s late heave at overtime on the buzzer went astray, the Sixers prevailing 91-88 and sweeping the Hawks 3-0 on the season. 

It was a frustrating night for Justin Tatum, who was teed up after both head coaches made their way onto the floor as a scuffle broke out on the quarter-time buzzer – how the Hawks coach copped the call will warrant a post-game explanation. 

“I took out of it what any normal head coach would take out of it when he walks in, he tries to diffuse the situation, he asks a referee to make sure they watch the extra pushing on the group and has his guys’ back, and he gets a technical foul for it … for diffusing your team,” Tatum said. 

“I guess I'm not allowed on the court, but guys have got to play better and not let the other team get in their head. They (referees) are who they are, we’ve got to play better.”  

It’s not the only question Tatum had, suggesting Harvey should have gone to the line after being fouled by Kendric Davis, who raised his hand to acknowledge as much, before firing off the last shot on the final play. 

“Yes, it's definitely hard to take to watch an intentional foul with two to three seconds [left], blatantly, on the sideline, which was recorded by the coach and has pretty much been an unsportsmanlike [foul], shoot two free-throws, and get the ball back,” Tatum said. 

“It was an unfortunate [officiating] miss, but at the end of the day, we allowed ourselves to be in that situation. If we were to play like we did the last 12 minutes of the game, we don't leave it to those type of people's hands to do what they did.”  

Those emotions aside, Tatum was more frustrated to see a lackadaisical defensive display in the second half against New Zealand on Friday carry over into Monday’s clash at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. 

Montrez Harrell had 18 points at the half, while Dejan Vasiljevic had 16 as the hosts launched an assault on the paint that saw them go 15-15 from the line and spank the Hawks 26-15 on the glass. 

Harrell added just eight points to his tally in the second half, while Vasiljevic couldn’t add a point in the face of the Hawks’ defensive rally, but Davis couldn’t be clamped and finish with 25 points and the win. 

None could hold a candle to Froling’s herculean individual display, but he was without allies for much of the clash, with Harvey going 3-10 from deep for his 15 points, while Days’ scoring punch came impressively, but too late. 

With back-court duo Harvey and Trey Kell (nine points) enduring rare quiet evenings, waking the Froling beast for the back end of the season could well be the silver lining to the defeat that leaves Adelaide the only team the Hawks have not triumphed over this season. 

It was as good a performance as any big man has produced this season, but the 23-year-old had a typically humble take. 

“I'd rather have zero points and a win,” Froling said. 

“I’ve had a couple of games where I’ve shot poorly, this is a game where I shot it well, finished well, but I don't think me shooting 21 shots every game is productive for our team when we've got so many talented guys.  

“It's the way it worked tonight; they wanted to play a one-on-one battle, and I ended up finishing in the post, some of it was o-rebounds as well where I'm just in a good position. I know what I can do, and I know how talented I am, but I don't think that type of game is always conducive to a win for our team.”  

The loss will not see Tatum’s outfit surrender top spot on the ladder, but they’ve now dropped three of their last five games heading into a blockbuster top-of-the-table showdown with bitter rivals Melbourne United in Wollongong on Saturday. 

Tip-off at the WIN Entertainment Centre is at 8pm.