There was no conscious effort on the part of Mikey Williams to prove his worth against the team that he would’ve landed to last March.
The 29-year-old met NLEX on Friday, and that game became a reminder of what the Road Warriors could’ve had. Williams erupted for 36 points to lead TNT to a 100-85 victory to bounce back in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup.
Many expected Yeng Guiao and Co. to nab the Fil-Am guard with one of its first-round picks in this year’s Rookie Draft – until the team sent their number four pick to the Tropang Giga via trade.
The flagship MVP Group franchise pulled it off following the loss Bobby Ray Parks Jr., who is now with the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins in the Japan B.League.
But the 29-year-old didn’t even think of that. Instead, he simply feels elated that TNT walked out of the DHVSU Gym with the win.
Photo by PBA Images
“Today, it was a conscious team effort,” he said. “First half we were trying to make adjustments and figure out what they were trying to do in the second half and just executed everything that we needed to.
“I definitely shoutout my coaching staff, my teammates. We got this one today. It’s something that we can try to build on.”
Williams also felt satisfied to see how he and the Tropa managed to answer the challenge of head coach Chot Reyes. This, following their disappointing defeat to San Miguel – their first after starting the 2021 Philippine Cup at 6-0.
“After the performance against San Miguel, Coach challenged us. We didn’t look like we were playing TNT basketball at all and we tried to [have a better] game plan against NLEX this game,” he said.
“NLEX is a really good team and we just did what we had to do today,” added the former NBA G-League veteran.
Williams himself greatly responded to Reyes’ call. His conference-best output saw him shoot 65-percent from the field, while also collecting four rebounds, three assists, and two steals in over 38 minutes.
The former ABL ASEAN Heritage Import said this is something that he can build on moving forward.
“There’s a lot of ups and downs playing this game and today it just went my way. I’m just continually trying to build on that and get back to the gym, prep for the next game, and try to just build on this.”
