PLAYING BIG
Kelly Williams is making his prrsence felt once again.
The 2008 PBA MVP is doing battle up front for the undersized Tropang Texters, and on Friday he had to take everything that he had against the towering Hamady N’Diaye of Kia.
“Medyo pinahirapan nya si N’Diaye,” said coach Jong Uichico.
N’Diaye was limited to just nine points and 13 rebounds after a couple of stat sheet-stuffing games, and Williams deserves the most praise in stifling the Senegalese big man’s rhythm.
Though Talk ‘N Text came away with the 94-85 win, Williams admitted that it was not as easy as it seemed to be.
“He’s a long guy. He’s active, and a lot of times, I thought I had him boxed out, I saw six-feet of arms over my head,” Williams said of N’Diaye. “He’s an extremely, naturally talented guy. It was tough, but that’s my role so you take the good from the bad and move forward.”
Williams finished with 14 points and five rebounds, but more importantly, his defense helped Talk ‘N Text stay alive in the race to the 2015 PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs.
At 5-6, the Tropang Texters are currently holding on to dear life and hoping to snare one of the last quarterfinal spots.
Williams said that it was not a position the Commissioner’s Cup champions envisioned as they entered the season-ending conference.
“It’s a position we didn’t expect to be in nor want to be in, but this is the position we are in,” he said.
“Coming into this game, we wanted to end the eliminations on a right note and moving forward, we want to make sure we’re righting our wrongs.”
“Even with the win, there’s still a lot of things we need to improve on. At this point, it’s just a waiting game and hope for the best,” added Williams.
But the veteran forward is confident that once TNT squeaks into the quarterfinals, the squad can still pack a punch against the higher ranked teams.
“We know if we can get our foot in the playoffs, when we have a chance, we have to make the most of it. That’s what we’re hoping for, a crack at the playoffs and go from there,” he said. (RL)
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
