BJ Boston put on a promising performance in Georgia with another good game tonight, scoring 18 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists, a block, a steal and zero turnover in 34 minutes. The freshman was 7-17 upstairs (2-7 out of three) and when LSU came back in the second half to reduce Kentucky’s lead to five, Boston scored eight straight to push the lead back to double digits.
“I’ve always imagined being the guy who can help the team, just do everything I can to help the team win, honestly,” Boston said afterward. “Whether I’m scoring, giving back or helping, playing defense.”
The work ethic in Boston has long been noticed by his coaches and teammates. At the start of the season, he started “Breakfast Club” and, after the recent fights in Kentucky, the story about him being in the gym on Monday night toured and was mentioned again in tonight’s show. On Friday, Boston said that working out in the gym is “the only thing that helps me get out of reality,” and tonight I received additional evidence that it works.
“I’d just say my work ethic,” Boston said of what “clicked” for him this week. “I just worked hard, I took it every day, I was just humble, keeping my head down, staying balanced. Just believing in what my team is doing, believing in what my coaches are telling us to do. ”
That being said, Boston hasn’t broken all its bad habits yet. At the end of the first half, he tried one of his flip shots near the rim, which made John Calipari absolutely crazy on the edge.
“Did you see the one who had her in the first half?” Calipari said when asked about Boston’s performance. “I am just crazy. – Don’t go back to that guy. The guy left the building. You will be the type we continue to prepare you to be. That’s how you are. And now, downhill runner, you make mistakes, you get to the rim. Suddenly, you look like one of the best players in the country. Flipsy-doodles that get nothing but a stretch at the other end? Not. We don’t have any more. So when he gave it back, I went crazy. It was one to two, Dontaie was open and made a flipsy. I grabbed. I flipped back. He said, “We’re not going back to that.” So again, I’m trying to hold these guys accountable, and fortunately I can do it while we win. ”
“When I did that, he lost it, but I just listened to him,” Boston said of the flip shot. “And when I came back, I took one and it was right there.”
Baby steps.