By REYNALD MAGALLON
One of the battle-scarred players from TNT, Kelly Williams is willingly taking the role as the team’s stabilizing presence in the pressure-packed moments.
And that was exactly what he provided for the Tropang 5G in their series-opening 96-91 win over San Miguel in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals.
Calm and collected, Williams was not only a calming voice during the huddle but also made the big plays down the stretch to help his team keep its footing in the face of a furious San Miguel comeback.
“My role is to keep everybody steady. I think I have probably the most experience in this finals situation,” said Williams who is gunning for his 11th championship in the PBA, 10th with the TNT franchise.
“I was reminded during Ranidel’s jersey retirement, how big it is to have someone who is just calm in the storm,” he added.
Williams finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists all while putting a body against the San Miguel frontline that has both June Mar Fajardo and Mo Tautuaa.
But more than that gargantuan task, Williams also dished out two crucial assists to Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser at a time when TNT was struggling to execute against the SMB defense.
“I want to make sure that I come into this, not just this game but this whole series, with that energy and trust that our shooters are going to shoot, our guys are going to do what we need to do, and make sure we handle our premium, which is to play defense and play with a lot of energy.”
And Williams hope to continue provide the poise for the team as TNT brace for a big fightback from SMB in Game 2
“As far as we’re concerned, we’re just preparing for Friday. This (Game 1) has been done and now we focus on getting rest and recovering, coming to practice to fix our mistakes, which we had a lot of,” said Williams.
“All eyes are on Friday, not looking past it and not thinking of this (Game 1) anymore. We’re moving forward.”
