Kelly Williams credited TNT head coach Chot Reyes for his vintage performance that proved to be key in their 99-72 Game 5 victory over Barangay Ginebra on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

The 42-year-old veteran big man surprisingly started for the Tropang Giga in the contest and immediately delivered by scoring seven of his 11 points in the opening frame, eventually setting the tone to the rout that put TNT a win away from Governors’ Cup title repeat.

“All I can say is, it’s the team. It’s the coach, it’s coach Chot. They know I’ve been struggling on and off the court, they just really rallied around me,” said Williams, who hasn’t really been at his best since dealing with a couple of injuries throughout the conference.

“They basically told me they believed in me and that gave me a lot of confidence and fuel to make sure I come in and focus and do whatever the team needs me to do to get a win,” he added.

That encouragement proved to be what Williams exactly needed as he not only made his presence felt on the offensive end but also anchored the team’s rediscovered defensive intensity in the pivotal Game 5.

“Kelly’s contribution to us is his defensive ability and his energy. He does a lot for us defensively that’s very important in our scheme of things. We hope he can sustain it some more for the rest of the series,” Reyes said of Williams’ importance to the team.

“We all know what Kelly can do, right? It’s just that he was not in his usual game the entire series. We just had a nice good team conversation yesterday before practice. I was just very straightforward and I told Kelly we’re not going to win the series without him contributing.”

Long being together with the franchise and the national team, Reyes did not have any shade of doubt when decided to start Williams in such a crucial contest. It paid dividends.

“We've been together for a long time and we built that trust and relationship so I said I'm gonna trust you to come in because we need Kelly Williams for us to have the chance and be able to compete against a tough Ginebra,” added Reyes.