Johnathan Williams knows that it’s quite a different Phoenix team he’s joining in his PBA return, but is nonetheless optimistic of their chances to succeed.
In fact, the former Best Import gave all the credit to the Fuel Masters for picking up the slack on his “rusty” first game, which ultimately led to a thrilling 100-97 overtime victory over Bol Bol and TNT at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“I’m still trying to figure it out,” he admitted moments after the down-the-wire affair that gave him a triumphant Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup debut.
“I was kinda rusty out there today, but Ricci [Rivero], Tyler [Tio], Perk (Jason Perkins), the rest of the guys, KT (Kenneth Tuffin)… they came up and made big shots, got big time stops,also in overtime and in the fourth quarter,” he added.
Called back to replace James Dickey III, Williams arrived just a day before the Tropang 5G bout and only had one walkthrough with Phoenix.
It sure is an insufficient amount of time for him to absorb almost everything, as he’s returned to a team without some of the faces he worked with during his maiden tour of duty during the 2023-24 edition of the import-laden meet.
(C) PBA Images
Gone are the likes of former head coach Jamike Jarin, as well as revered playmaker RJ Jazul, whom he considers one of his veterans.
And those figures, he said, were instrumental in allowing him to become the best he could be, which led to a rare semifinal appearance for the franchise–and him being crowned as the conference’s top reinforcement as well.
“I just wanna give thanks to God. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. I had a great coaching staff back then, too,” reflected Williams.
“Coach Jamike was a great coach; he helped me a lot along the way. And I had a lot of vets on that team, like RJ, a lot of the guys. Credit to them,” he added, as he now looks forward to learning Charles Tiu’s scheme of things.
Still, there are some familiar faces from that batch, such as Ricci Rivero, Tyler Tio, and lead forward Jason Perkins, all of whom made sure to give him a winning welcome–most especially the exciting backcourt tandem.
Rivero, before going out with a deep cut on his left hand, had 31 points and 11 rebounds, while Tio delivered 14, none bigger than the marginal three-pointer he sank with only 1.8 seconds left to play to win it for the Fuel Masters.
Thanks to them, the crew preserved as well the efforts of ‘J3,’ who, despite not having a practice with them yet, finished with 22 points–albeit on 9-of-25 shooting from the field–alongside 15 rebounds, six assists, and a steal.
But Williams was more grateful and proud of the locals for delivering in a game that yielded a playoff-like atmosphere, thanks to the big crowd that showed up.
“I just wanna say thanks to all my teammates for holding it down out there, they did a great job. And the coaching staff, they were phenomenal too,” he said.
