Exclusive: Brandon Boston Jr. Reacts to Winning G-League Showcase MVP
The Ontario Clippers, The LA Clippers' G-League affiliate, captured the Winter Showcase Cup Championship on Thursday, defeating the Windy City Bulls in a game decided by the final shot. Much like the revamped All-Star game rules, the final quarter of this game was decided by a target score, which was 25 points added to the total score of the leading team entering the fourth.
The Ontario Clippers led by one-point entering the final frame, which set the stage for what was a hard fought fourth quarter. With $100,000 and a Showcase Cup trophy on the line, it was the Clippers who came away victorious behind a game-winning jumper from Xavier Moon.
After the game, AllClippers spoke with Showcase MVP Brandon Boston Jr. about what this championship meant to he and his teammates.
"It was amazing," Boston Jr. said. "I'm not gonna lie, my team has great trust in me, and I have trust in them. Our bond is crazy. So I just came in, we leaned on each other, and I did what I could to win this money."
When asked about Xavier Moon's game-winning shot, Boston Jr. said, "X [Xavier Moon] is the head of the snake. The energy guy. He's the oldest, so he comes in really prepared, and we all trust that he makes those shots, he makes them all the time, everyday. So as soon as he got the ball I was yelling 'kill em, kill em, kill em' and he did."
Boston Jr. has spoken in the past about the level of competition in the G-League being overlooked. With so many players competing for their basketball lives, the level of physicality and energy is something few understand. When asked about this after the game, Boston Jr. reiterated some of his previous comments, and said the G-League competition gets overlooked.
"For sure, I feel like people overlook how competitive, how physical it is, and how fast it is, honestly," Boston Jr. said. "Me personally, it's a full blitz every game, so I just gotta adjust along the game, that's what I do."
Ontario Clippers head coach Paul Hewitt also shared similar sentiments when speaking with AllClippers, saying, "You got a bunch of hungry players and some really good young coaches... Like I said, in the G League you got a bunch of hungry players, hungry coaches, so for guys like Brandon [Boston Jr.], and Jason Preston, and Moussa [Diabate] to get this type of pressure game experience, it'll only help when they move up to the next level."
Coach Hewitt gave credit to the Windy City group, adding, "Henry Domercant from Windy City, I thought did a great job offensively, what they did to really close the floor down on us, close the lane on us, and really made us work for every point. Offensively we were really flowing and clicking coming into tonight’s game, and I felt like we got the game going, but give them credit they really played hard."
On his MVP Brandon Boston Jr., coach Hewitt said, "He was huge. He carried us. He and Nate Darling carried us offensively, cause we weren’t our normal selves. I feel like we missed some shots we usually make today. I give Windy City a lot of credit, they did a lot, they threw a lot at them, they were really doubling every time we tried to attack, and we showed the proper amount of aggression as well as patience. So without him we definitely wouldn’t have won this event."
