NONTHABURI (FIBA U18 Asian Championship) - Australia has rolled through the competition in the FIBA U18 Asian Championship pretty easily so far. Japan tried to hang with them for most of the first quarter in the Quarterfinals, but Australia’s sheer size and skill were too much. The lead kept growing bigger and bigger until it eventually ended at 88-52 in favor of Australia.

Japan are a very good team that played well, but Australia are just that good.

However, if you are asked to name one player who has stood out for Australia, you get a bit stumped.

Tamuri Wigness has been brilliant in the short spurts that he’s leading the offense… but Kyle Bowen has also crazy efficient… but Isaiah Lee has done such a good job commanding as a floor general… but Keli Leaupepe has been a monster on the offensive glass… but Kody Stattmann has been an exciting mixed bag of long range shooting and athletic finishing… but Samson Froling has been dominant on both ends… but –

You get the idea.

Australia has five players averaging double-digit points and three more averaging exactly 7.8 points per game. It’s not the best way to gauge a team’s balance, but it speaks at some level to how evenly spread they are across the roster.

“Well, we want to be a team,” Samson Froling says after their Quarterfinals win. “That’s what we want to be known for.”

“I don’t care if I score a lot. I don’t care if I get a lot of assists. I don’t care if I’m on the bench all game. I’m just here to win. We just want to win.”

This is not a team that was built overnight. Samson Froling is a leader of this special team that has been through thick and thin together for a long time. Ten of them were on the 2017 FIBA U17 Oceania championship team and five played together in the 2016 FIBA U17 World Championship squad.

The time that they have spent together bonding, building chemistry, and becoming a single unit has paid off and it’s shown as they continue to dominate throughout the tournament. They can also take some time to enjoy the experience of playing in a new environment as well as playing with each other.

“We’ve been together for a long time,” Froling says. “Getting to experience a new country that I’ve never been to and that these guys have never been to, getting to do that with all my friends has been good.”

Australia had failed to qualify for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup back in 2017, so this team came in with a purpose. After their win against Japan in the Quarterfinals today, half of their mission is done.

“[Our target] first and foremost was to qualify,” says Froiling. “Other than that was to win and win convincingly.”

After four straight convincing wins with an average margin of 56.3 points per game, Australia are now only two more games away from sweeping the competition and winning the FIBA U18 Asian Championship in their debut.

FIBA