Two bigs, one last roll of the dice

JaVale McGee and Sam Froling sharing the floor may not have been part of Illawarra’s original plan, but it could be the move that keeps their title defence alive. Not just for what the two bigs can do themselves, but for the space it creates for the Hawks’ shooters.

After Froling ruptured his achilles in Game 4 of last season’s Championship Series, his return timeline for NBL26 remained unclear. The expectation was that when he did come back, he and McGee would split minutes at the five.

That plan may have shifted.

Froling looked close to his best in his first game back on Christmas Day, finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds in a loss to the Sydney Kings. With the Hawks’ season on the line, coach Justin Tatum went extra big on New Year’s Eve.

Froling and McGee started together and delivered. The pair combined for 32 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks in a two-point win over the Tasmania JackJumpers.

Tatum liked what he saw, especially with Froling backing it up in his second game back. In 28 minutes, he posted 16 points, 10 boards and four assists, shooting 7-of-10 from the field.

“We just want to stay solid on the defensive end and having two bigs in there for the first time starting this season for us, we're trying to work on our kinks with those two, and then our perimeter guys did a really good job of setting the tone,” Tatum said.

“Sam did a good job but just had too many turnovers and that's what I get paid for to mention all the goods and the bad, but Sam did a really good job and it's really about his stamina and confidence in his achilles, and his conditioning.”

The minutes are climbing and so is the impact.

“Right now he went from 23-24 minutes last game to 28 minutes this game and that's about round about where we want to keep him at. And if he's this efficient we have a chance to do some good things,” Tatum continued.

The knock-on effect was felt across the floor.

Tyler Harvey returned to the Illawarra lineup after missing the past two games with back spasms and immediately made his presence felt. Coming off the bench, he poured in 15 points while knocking down four of his nine attempts from beyond the arc.

With Froling and McGee commanding attention inside, the perimeter opened up. Harvey and QJ Peterson both found clean looks, with Peterson adding 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting from deep.

Harvey knows exactly what the dual-big look can unlock.

“I think when you have two big threats in the paint it obviously opens us up, and it opens them up as well,” Harvey said.

"If you're going to double them then they can kick it out to us and if they don't double, then they have the one-on-one matchup, so it's a bit of a cat and mouse game that we haven’t had all year.

"This is the first time we've had 99 per cent of our team so it's still figuring out how to figure out playing with two bigs, and they're still learning us as well.

"I thought we did a good job with it tonight and we forced a couple inside that we can fix, but once we get that flowing I think it will be good."