He certainly didn't feel that way about his breakout NBL campaign last season, though it exceeded plenty of others' expectations; even those of the Hawks coaching staff.

Brian Goorjian knew he was onto a good'n when he managed to keep Froling in Wollongong as a number of other young-guns fled the nest.

He was expecting a longer-term payoff but Froling paid quick dividends in a campaign that saw him average 11 points and seven rebounds.

It was a season that left Goorjian adamant the Townsville-raised seven-footer has an NBA ceiling.

It's hardly an absurd suggestion when you consider Froling's five years younger than current San Antonio Spur Jock Landale, and four years younger than the seemingly NBA-bound Duop Reath.

Crucially, Froling proved his team's engine, averaging 27 minutes as the only player to start all 39 games. Only Tyler Harvey and Justinian Jessup logged more minutes.

That alone would have been enough for many given he missed 11 games in his rookie season due to injury, but the man himself only nudged the bar he set for himself.

"I'm always pretty confident in myself and my ability," he said.

"I don't think the coaches expected me to play quite as well as I did judging from our talks early on, but after the preseason I think they were pretty happy with me.

"I think I continued to improve throughout the year and deserved the opportunities I got. I think I made the most of them but I was pretty confident in my ability to have and impact on an NBL game.

"I think I did that at different stages and I was pretty happy with my year last year. I'm trying to emulate that and improve on it."

No other player on the Hawks roster mirrored the fortunes of his team so closely, with the club defying pre-season odds to climb back into the finals.

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This season, whatever personal ambitions Froling harbours run second to bettering that on the team front.

"We did pretty well last year given where everyone had us ranked," he said.

"We were the underdogs so to come third and then be one game of the grand final series was pretty cool.

"It would've been nice to get to that finals series and win the whole thing. With these new pieces we've added, we can definitely go two steps further and win the whole thing."

To that end, he's more than willing to tweak his role to work in tandem with with Boomers big man Reath who's wasted no time making his mark on the NBL.

Through four games the Olympic Bronze medalist is averaging 20 points and nine rebounds to put himself in the early MVP conversation.

It'll require some subtle adjustments from Froling, though most in the league would take his numbers of seven points and 10 boards across four starts.

"Duop's such a rare talent," Froling said. "The way I look at it, I was playing that position (centre) last year and I averaged 11 points. He's playing that position this year and averaging 21, so it's a no-brainer who you'd rather have there.

"I'm playing more in the four spot this year and I think that's more my natural position. I'm enjoying it and I approach it the same way, just giving my all every game and doing what I can to help the team win."

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