MIKEY Williams drew praises from Jordan Clarkson on Sunday for one of the dazzling plays he put on in Game One of the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Finals while the NBA guard watched from ringside.
Clarkson was seen nodding in approval during the third quarter of TNT’s 86-84 win over San Miguel after Williams made a tough shot following a dizzying sequence that saw him lose San Miguel defender Chris Ross.
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Clarkson later tweeted that he has become a 'big fan' of Williams, drawing amusement from the Filipino basketball netizens.
"Big fan! Mikey Williams got game! TNT!" tweeted the Utah Jazz guard.
When told about the tweet, Williams revealed he had played a lot of times against Clarkson back in the US.
“That’s love,” said the TNT sophomore. “I know him from LA. Played with him a lot out there. I’m familiar with him.”
Clarkson had all the reasons to be impressed as he sat ringside when Williams lit up for 12 points in the third quarter to help TNT overhaul a 15-point deficit to win by two points. Williams only shot 1-of-6 in the first half.
Last season’s Rookie of the Year winner said he was not concerned about his poor shooting, saying all that matters was that he was not forcing his attempts.
“I missed some shots. I got some good looks. I think it’s all about my rhythm. It’s a thing that I need to do something different during warm-ups,” Williams said.
Overall though, Williams said he and the entire TNT team needs to do a better job of playing with energy so as not to be forced to fight back from a big deficit like in Game One.
“We didn’t come out with the best energy in the first half. We allowed them to turn us over, 16 turnovers in the first half, I feel like that was the difference in the first half. In the second half, I thought we had a better flow. The ball was moving a little bit and we had our shots falling,” said Williams.
“I think we need to start better in the first half. I feel like that was our downfall. We were down in the half and then we had to play and come back. We had to knuckle down a little bit and get some stops down the stretch as a unit,” said Williams.
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