Kelly Williams admits it felt good to ‘shoot, be free’

Kelly Williams. PBA IMAGES

Kelly Williams left Mall of Asia Arena with a cathartic feel knowing full well TNT just climbed three steps to get to the third seed of the PBA Philippine Cup.

Yet for the 6-foot-7 forward, knew something else was different.

Williams made 18 shot attempts on Wednesday in the KaTropa’s 90-85 win over Kia, the most he ever took since he became part of the TNT franchise in 2010.

READ: TNT halts Kia to climb to third seed 

“It felt awkward today, so something had to be different,” said Williams who finished the game with 23 points, eight rebounds, and 11 made attempts. “It felt good to shoot and be free.”

TNT played without center Moala Tautuaa, who was suffering from food poisoning, and Williams took it upon himself to be the offensive focal point in the KaTropa’s frontcourt.

Prior to TNT’s fourth win in seven games, Williams was just averaging 10 field goal attempts, almost half of what he attempted on Wednesday.

READ: Kelly Williams rides ‘Angkas’ to beat traffic for TNT game

“You know being aggressive is in every player’s mindset,” said Williams, who played his first four years with Sta. Lucia where he won the MVP in 2008. “You want to do the best that you can with the minutes you have.”

“I always tell that to the younger guys that they should always take advantage with the time because you never know what can happen if you make the best out of it.”