catmandoo
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posted 03-06-2021 04:22 PM
Brandon Boston Jr. broke out of his shooting slump on Saturday by pouring in six 3-pointers and finishing with a career-high 21 points in a lopsided victory over South Carolina. Boston finished 7 of 13 from the floor and 6 of 10 from deep in the win. It came at a good time for both Kentucky and Boston as the Wildcats snapped a two-game winning streak and Boston broke out of a drought that had plagued him for the past four games. Boston was just 11 of 44 from the floor over the past four contests and 4 of 21 from 3-point range in those games.
It’s no secret that Boston’s freshman season has not gone as many expected. Rated as a top-five recruit out of high school and as high as No. 2 in some NBA mock drafts prior to the season, Boston has struggled to find his footing as the Wildcats finished with their worst regular-season record in over 30 years.
The popular thought amongst those in the industry is Boston is still likely to leave for the NBA because he could land a first-round grade, but head coach John Calipari made some interesting comments regarding Boston following the South Carolina game.
“Let me tell you why I stick with him; every day I look in that gym whether it’s after practice or morning, he’s in there like some of the better players,” Calipari said. “Here’s the issue for him; it’s not mentally, it’s physically. He’s physically not able to do what his mind is telling him to do. I’m trying to get him to make the easiest plays: catch and shoots, one dribble pull-ups. If you get to the rim, try to get fouled. Because it’s not anything mental, it is more physical. That holds him back a little bit at this point. But he’s never lost the fight. This stuff has been hard for him.
“And it’s eye-opening to know as an individual player ‘man, I’m not where I need to be physically.’ We’ve had other guys -- it was like Immanuel Quickley. Immanuel Quickley walked into my office and said ‘Coach, I know you said this would be hard. This is way harder than I thought and I didn’t have a good year. But I’m coming back and you watch. No one will outwork me.’ Those are the guys that should come back. That mentality. PJ Washington. That mentality. ‘I’m not coming back to do showtime. I’m not coming back to say ‘hey, this is my team.’ I am coming back because I am going to get better and I can accept that I didn’t play the way I needed to play. And this is way harder than I thought.”
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