MIKEY Williams looked like his old, deadly self on Friday in Game Two, stepping up after a woeful shooting performance in the series opener against Rain or Shine in the PBA 50th Season Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.
Williams buried a straight-away three-pointer with 35.2 seconds left, cushioning a three by Luis Villegas in the previous Rain or Shine possession and turning a one-point Converge lead into a 127-123 advantage.
Converge held on to a 130-125 win in Game 2 with Williams’ heroics pivotal in the FiberXers tying the best-of-five series at 1-1.
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It was a big-time bounce back for Williams, who shot a horror 1-of-12 from the field in Game 1 to finish with only three points on his 35th birthday.
In Game 2, Williams finished with 10 points and still was a pedestrian 4-of-13 from the field, but still much better than his 3-of-20 shooting over his last three games including in Game 1 of the quarterfinals.
Williams said the game-clincher is a boost to his confidence in what has been a trying conference especially over the past few games where his performances have been inconsistent upon the arrival of active consultant Djordje Jovicic.
But a candid talk between him and the coaching staff recently where discussions included his role in the team was a big help for him coming into Game 2.
“Me and Coach Franco and Djordje, we just had a sit down because I’ve been trying to understand my role and just what they want me to do here,” Williams said.
“There were spurts in this season where I felt I was contributing and then, we had to switch coaches where Djordje taking a better role and he kinda structurize things.
“One of us had to take a back seat and I didn’t mind because I had two great guys in Alec (Stockton) and Juan (Gomez de Liano), tremendous young talent and they’re getting it done right now so I can’t complain."
“I just got to contribute and do what I can and as best as I can,” Williams added.
He did just that in Game 2 as Williams continued to shoot despite his struggles until his persistence paid off with that crucial three.
“It was good for me,” said Williams. “I got the monkey off my back. I’ve been in a little slump. I haven’t really contributed the way I know I’m capable of. But in the playoffs, anything can happen.
"So I just have to continue to keep the right mindset and just keep working and stay in the lab and just fix all the things that we did today and I think we’ll be fine.”
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