Frazier's Potential to "Rock Out" for Illawarra

With just one win from their opening ten games, the Illawarra Hawks are struggling.

Key players Tyler Harvey and Sam Froling have been inconsistent this season, while key import pair Justin Robinson and George King have suffered season-ending injuries. It’s been a baptism of fire for first-year coach Jacob Jackomas.

After Round 7’s heartbreaking loss to the Sydney Kings, the Hawks have shown they have the ability to match it with the best, and their signing of former Perth Wildcat Michael Frazier II to replace King could be the spark they need to get out of the doldrums.

Frazier struggled for minutes while at the Wildcats last season, but had an impact, averaging 7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals a game.

Corey Williams says he’s looking forward to seeing Frazier “rock out” for the Hawks.

“This is actually a better situation for him,” Williams said of Frazier on NBL Overtime. “He’s coming in with no pressure. They’re one and nine, you’re alongside Tyler Harvey, and you bring a lot of the things they need.

“You’re going to get the ball, you’re going to get minutes. Coach is like ‘do your thing’.

“Hopefully [he] can come in, Peyton Siva can come back healthy, and they can get some wins.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">MICHAEL FRAZIER MIXTAPE ?? <br><br>This and more of what we can expect from our new wingman ?‍? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hawknation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#hawknation</a> <a href="https://t.co/CA2usaA3vc">pic.twitter.com/CA2usaA3vc</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1594853819447640064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Frazier averaged just under 22 minutes per contest last season, but could be in line for extended minutes at his new club.

Despite the rhetoric surrounding Frazier’s on-court production, NBL analyst Liam Santamaria says there’s no questions about the import's character.

“It’s very cool he gets this other opportunity because it was really rough the way things worked out last season, and I think we all felt for him,” Santamaria said.

“Everyone within the organisation talked about the great character he showed throughout that trying time.

“The only thing is character is great, it’s important – really important. You have to come out and get it done. Perth signed him because he felt like he could do that, and now Illawarra has given him this opportunity.

“I just hope he comes out here and lights it up and really gives them a punch, because it would be a great story off the back of what happened last season.”