K-Love Diet, Goorj as Coach, Playing with Brother Driving Harry

Written for nbl.com.au by Chris Pike

Harry Froling was self-aware enough to know this NBL season might be his last chance but now the combination of playing with brother Sam, having Brian Goorjian as coach and following the Kevin Love diet has him shining at the Illawarra Hawks.

The Froling name is a famous one in Australian basketball with parents Jenny and Shane having their own outstanding careers, and now their children Harry, Keely, Alicia and Sam have all become successful professional players in their own right.

There was plenty of hype around Harry who had an outstanding rookie NBL season with the Adelaide 36ers under Joey Wright back in 2018/19, and he went on to chase his NBA dream in the weeks and months after that.

However, he now freely admits upon reflection that some of that hype from the outside and expectations he had from within might have got the best of him. His next season with the Sixers and then Brisbane Bullets weren’t quite as fruitful.

That had the 23-year-old feeling like he was at the crossroads in his career looking towards #NBL22. 

It's fair to say he has landed on his feet, he looks in tremendous shape and is back to playing some of the standout basketball he showed in that rookie season where he's part of an all-Australian front court at the Hawks with brother Sam and Olympian Duop Reath with back up from captain AJ Ogilvy.

"Obviously since my rookie season I've had glimpses and little purple patches of showing what I can do in this league, but then I have other instances where I'm not at my best, and I didn’t always do my best to put myself in those positions," Froling said. 

"I didn’t always handle the things I needed to handle to help maximise my potential but I think it's now good being here, having fun again and playing for a coach who believes in me and holds me accountable. I've been enjoying it so far."

Froling feels a major factor in the form he has been able to rediscover at NBL level this season has been blocking out the outside noise, keeping in check the pressures he puts on himself and then having Brian Goorjian as his coach.

Then getting to share a front court with younger brother Sam with Goorjian lighting the fire underneath him while being remarkably supportive at the same time, and it's all coming together nicely for the 6'11 big man who can shoot.

"I think the biggest difference with me has been the pressure that I've put on myself. I realised I was probably more at the crossroads right now more than I've ever been with just a one-year deal having bounced around a little bit, but in the past I've bought too much into all that talk and hype," Froling said. 

"I took too much notice of all the expectations that people had of me and if I didn’t live up to those, and I did cop a lot of shit at times, then it was tough for me to deal with it. I was only 19 or 20 or 21 and going through all that, I was a young kid with a lot of pressure on me. 

"I'm still figuring it all out to this day but I think the biggest change has been not to put any expectations on myself. I'm just taking care of the stuff that I need to handle and being more professional, which I hadn’t always been in the past. 

"I think that's definitely helping me and so is not putting pressure on myself and just going out and hooping, and playing the best I can. When I play my best is when I go out and have fun, get the crowd involved and enjoy my basketball. 

"I think I'm starting to find that mix and doing it on a team that has the potential that we have, and ability we have, and for a coach like Goorj it's special. I'm just enjoying it and that's the biggest thing for me."

The passion brought out by playing with brother Sam and having Goorjian as coach have both been big factors in Froling finding his groove so far this season in Wollongong. There's also another huge part that is behind his success to date.

The Hawks signing former Cleveland Cavaliers strength and conditioning coach Alex Moore has been as big a factor as anything in Froling's progression as well.

Froling knew he had to do all the rights things if he was to get back to his best this season and that included changing his diet, his workout regime and his overall lifestyle.

Moore has been a big part in him achieving all that.

Having so successfully previously worked with NBA superstar Kevin Love, it was a similar approach for Moore with Froling, and now that K-Love Diet is something Froling lives by and is benefiting from every day.

"It's a credit to our weights coach, he has helped me a lot. A couple of the other boys like Emmett Naar have been on to me about eating, and watching what you eat and drink, and holding me accountable with that sort of stuff," Froling said. 

"Obviously over the pre-season the weights coach really smashed me and just helped me clean up a few things. He previously was with the Cavs for a few years as the head strength coach there so we actually Facetimed Kevin Love to talk about how when he came over from Minnesota that he was similar to what my weight was. 

"So I got put on the Kevin Love diet and since then I've been following that and even if it's a bit hard to stick to it when you're travelling and everything, but I've done the best I can. I know a lot of people are saying I look in great shape and all that, but an example of Goorj is that he still wants me to drop a few more kilos and he's on me every day about that. 

"That's just another example of how he's never satisfied and always holds me accountable. That's been really good and obviously getting on the K-Love diet has helped me a lot and credit to our strength coach for helping me with that, but I still have a ways to go and I'm working on it."

This season is the real first chance that Harry and Sam Froling have got to play meaningful basketball together as well. Not only that, but they are big part of the Hawks front court set up under Goorjian, and Harry couldn’t be happier with how it's panning out.

"Obviously just seeing the way he goes about his business and being a big brother, it makes me want to lead by example as well and try to be around him as much as I can, and help him get better and achieve his goals," he said.

"Then obviously he wants me to have a long career as well and he wants to help me achieve my goals. It has been so much fun and we've never really played much together before. We did a play a bit of juniors together in Townsville, but never really had the chance to properly play together until now. 

"He is on a one-year and so am I so it's a special season that we are both cherishing, and hopefully we can do something big. It's just a special thing to play with him and to see the progress he has made in his career. 

"Now hopefully I can continue how I am and we hope to keep going how we are, and to do it under Goorj is a pretty cool thing."

Another added factor in the Froling brothers along with Reath and Ogilvy thriving in that front court for Illawarra is the faith they know that coach Goorjian and the club have put in them to trust them without bringing in an import big.

As a result, they are delivering impressively while allowing import guards Tyler Harvey, Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Antonius Cleveland to do their thing, and Froling is enjoying everything about being part of it.

"When you don’t go for an import as a big it's a big deal and a show of faith in us local guys. We've gone for imports in the guard spots so it's good for us to prove and show that Aussie bigs can get it done," Froling said.

"With our frontcourt, we are special and can play so many different ways and you've seen that the last couple of games. If a guy is having an off night, you can go with Duop and Sam, me and Sam, me and Duop, and that's what we want. 

"We can also go small and roll with the one big with AC as the four so we have a lot of options. I definitely think it's a special thing and it's pretty cool to not only play with Sam and share that power forward and centre position, but to do well with it together and help us win games. That's a special thing and I'm really enjoying it, and it's a pretty cool thing for us both."

Froling harks back to his first season in Adelaide where Joey Wright knew the buttons to push to get out of him and now feels like Goorjian in Illawarra knows how to light that fire underneath him too.

Froling couldn’t speak more highly of what Goorjian is doing for him with the perfect blend of holding him accountable and pushing him hard, but also being supportive and having his back.

"In a way it's similar to my first year with Joey where he is just black and white, and calls you out on your bullshit and just calls it how it is," he said.

"I hadn’t really had that the last couple of years, and not that there's anything wrong with different coaching styles and all that sort of stuff, but I think the way Goorj coaches as hard as it can be on you and it's not for everyone, it's definitely been good for me. 

"That's both on the court and off the court, my professionalism has improved and he has really helped me with that. When I start to stray or go off the course, he calls me out on it and that started in the pre-season when my weight wasn’t dropping how we wanted it to be, or expected it to be. 

"He sat me down and called me down on it which kicked my arse into gear and he has been doing that on a lot of little things behind the scenes. I appreciate that sort of stuff and it has been helping me, and I think that's why you are seeing that translate a bit more onto court this year than the last couple of seasons. 

"He has been huge for me and I love playing for him. He is just a special guy to me both as a coach and as a mentor and family friend."

Now all of a sudden with the Hawks having played just the two games since December 19, they have a huge week ahead with games at home to the Perth Wildcats on Saturday and Thursday with a clash with the Sixers on Monday in between.

Froling wouldn’t have it any other way though.

"This next stretch coming up and we have to try and win as many games as we can, but getting to play three or four games in eight days shouldn’t be seen as a punishment for any guys," he said. 

"And if you think it's a punishment you probably shouldn’t be playing basketball. There are guys out there working labour jobs and doing 12 hour days and slaving away, but we get to come out and play a game of basketball, and have fun and compete. 

"That's a special thing and I'm excited for it and these next games over the next week or so are going to be big for us in where we go with this season as a team. I think we are all excited and just keen to hoop especially after having that month off."