MIKEY Williams had his PBA career game and it so happened that it came against, of all teams, the NLEX Road Warriors.
And to clear the air, the rookie guard said there wasn’t a conscious effort to prove himself against the franchise that desperately tried to get him in the rookie draft.
Williams described the Tropang Giga’s 100-85 victory over the Road Warriors as a total ‘team effort’ despite leading the way with a game-high 36 points, spiked by a 5-of-9 shooting from three-point range.
“It’s a conscious team effort. First half, we were trying to make adjustments, trying to figure out what they (NLEX) were trying to do,” he said.
“And in the second half, we just executed everything we needed to,” he added. “NLEX is just a pretty good team, we just have to do what he have to do today.”
Williams admitted the Tropang Giga were challenged by coach Chot Reyes to make up for the 83-67 blowout the team absorbed at the hands of San Miguel the last time out.
“We didn’t look like we were playing TnT basketball at all,” he recalled the words of the outspoken TnT mentor.
But Williams and NLEX had history, too.
The Road Warriors had their eyes set on picking the 28-year-old Fil-Am with the No. 4 pick in the last rookie draft, but a last-minute, three-team trade had Williams making a detour to NLEX's sister team TnT.
Nothing personal
Williams declined to delve on the what ifs.
“We just worked as a team and get the W. It took a team effort and I’m glad we got the win,” said the rookie guard, who suited up for 36 minutes and had four rebounds and three assists.
Williams said his best game so far in the PBA should augur well for the Tropang Giga’s next game against defending champion Barangay Ginebra no less.
“I’m just going back to the drawing boards and shift all our focus on Ginebra in our next game. It’s time to shift our focus to Ginebra," said the TnT freshman.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
