Larry Austin Jr. talks defence, viral dunks and retaining the Trophy title
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“This team plays defence!” … those were the first words Cheshire Phoenix captain and floor general Larry Austin Jr. said to us as we sat down to interview him ahead of today’s BBL Trophy Final.
The reigning BBL Trophy Final MVP and sole survivor on the
roster from last year’s title-winning Phoenix team, L.A.J. knows a thing or two
about getting it done on the biggest stages in this League, and is gunning for
more glory this afternoon.
The epitome of what this Phoenix team is about – relentless
on defence and underrated on offence – Austin Jr. said it is important that
Cheshire stick to their identity as they head into today’s Final against
Caledonia Gladiators.
“When we lock in on the defensive end we’re a very difficult
team to beat. Our rotations are great and we’re all on the same page. All the
way to the final, you can see how our defence and energy on that side has set
us up to have success, so it’s important we stick to that identity in the
Final.
“I’ve been really proud of how we’ve battled and been
resilient on both ends of the floor one game at a time to get ourselves to this
Championship game.
“Caledonia are a really good, well-coached team and we’ve
had some great games against them this year. We know they’re going to be a
challenge, especially playing the Final in Glasgow, but our fans are going to
be there in numbers and they’re the best, so we’re ready and excited for the
battle.”
The story of this season so far tells you that today’s final
is going to be incredibly close, as the Phoenix have won two and lost two of
their four games against the Gladiators so far this year, with Caledonia
winning the most recent two encounters.
One of the biggest moments of last season, though, belonged
to Austin Jr. in the Trophy semifinals against today’s opponents, as the 6’2”
point guard put one of the Gladiators on a poster with an incredible dunk that
went viral following a win that saw Cheshire book their spot in the 2022 final.
“The ball got tipped to me so I just took it down the floor
and the defender just kept backing off and I just thought ‘yo, I’m gonna dunk
it’, so that’s what I did to get the crowd going and put the exclamation point
on a very exciting game.
“I actually surprised myself, I didn’t know what to do after
that play to be honest, but it was a great moment for myself and for the team
and it was crazy that it went viral afterwards as well. Seeing how excited
everybody was made it even more special.”
More major moments are set to come in today’s final, so strap yourselves in as Cheshire and Caledonia are set to leave it all out there as they compete to take home the BBL Trophy!
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