SIZZLING for Uling Roasters-Butuan City for the better part of Leg 3, Franky Johnson suddenly found himself in a funk when it mattered the most.
Facing off against a tough Pasig-Sta. Lucia Realtors side in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 President's Cup Leg 3 championship game, the Fil-Am guard struggled to find his range as the two sides engaged in a veritable melee on Sunday.
"I think I missed about five twos in a row," he lamented.
But shooters shoot, and with the game on the line, Johnson sized up Jeckster Apinan from the top of the arc and swished the game-winner to seal the pulsating 21-20 triumph as Butuan finally broke through in the 3x3 bubble.
"It's just a shooter's mentality," said the 26-year-old, who finished the game with six points. "I just kept shooting because I know it was gonna drop at the right time like it did earlier."
Johnson came through in the end, but Butuan's victory didn't come easy as Apinan gave little to no room for him to make a bucket. Yet in the end, the 6-foot-2 guard found a way.
"That one, that was tough because Jeckster was playing great D on me. I didn't really know where to go. I think I made like three moves and then I thought I just had to shoot it, I wasn't getting any space. I fired it up, if it goes in, it goes in, and if not, we just gotta play D. It went in and I'm glad it ended right there because we were dead tired," he said.
Johnson's performance further cements his status as one of the top 3x3 players in the country — someone who can give current top-ranked players Joshua Munzon and Alvin Pasaol a run for their money.
But for him, the rankings mean little as his goal is to win as many games and titles in the pioneering professional 3x3 league in the country.
"I'm not really focused on that. That's not really my goal," said Johnson, who is currently ranked No. 8 in the country.
"My goal is to help my team and what we continue to do to play great. I don't really care about that individual stuff because as a team, if we keep winning and do what we're capable of, we all shine.
"My teammates first, I'm not worried about being the No. 1 3x3 player."
Winning Leg 3 certainly appeals to him, but Johnson knows that the job still ain't over, with Leg 4 set on Tuesday and the Grand Finals on Friday.
"Of course, this is a confidence-booster, but we've been confident since the preseason just from knowing all the hard work we put in. We prepared ourselves to give ourselves the best shot here," he said.
"We're all confident and locked in. This doesn't mean anything. We gotta go to Leg 4 and execute the same thing there."
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