Williams says he is built for big moments
TNT veteran Kelly Williams played 16 minutes in Game 5 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup FInals against Barangay Ginebra—his longest stint in the series.
If he had a choice, he’d be playing more.
“I should be out there [more], but I’m not,” Williams told the Inquirer after their tough 100-95 overtime loss to the Gin Kings at Araneta Coliseum. “That’s not my call.”
“I’m used to that kind of environment. I was bred for that environment. I’m always ready for whatever. The way I’m utilized makes that difficult, but that’s not my call,” he added.
Scoreless
Williams was scoreless in Game 5, but his defense, hustle and rebounding more than made up for it. He took his share of fronting Ginebra’s ace playmaker RJ Abarrientos, spent most of the time guarding the Gin Kings’ big men and also grabbed crucial rebounds that earned TNT extra possessions.
He hopes he gets to do more of those in Game 6 on Sunday, when the Tropang 5G try to drag the Kings to a deciding Game 7.
Williams got the call on Friday’s Game 5 largely because TNT struggled with an in-game injury to Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and Henry Galinato’s inability to keep up with Ginebra’s frontline.
Whether he gets the same chance in Game 6 is no longer as important as TNT surviving to play another day.
“We just have to go in and try to win another game and we’ll go from there. There’s nothing more to it,” Williams said. “We’ll follow any adjustments that coach sees necessary and hope for the best.”
That coach, Chot Reyes, is more concerned about inconsistent calls in the series.
“Excellent officiating. 29 to 17 in free throws? You can’t beat a strong Ginebra team like that with the discrepancies in free throws,” Reyes said.
“If the calls were a bit better then maybe we could have a chance [to win].”
TNT went to the line only 17 times, missing six while Ginebra made 22 out of 29 attempts from the stripe.
