Like Mike, Terrafirma coach says of ‘good but not selfish’ import Jordan Williams

Terrafirma coach Johnedel Cardel has a unique view of import Jordan Williams in the early stages of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup, especially after Dyip’s rare win last night.

“Magaling to pero hindi swapang (He’s good, but he’s not a selfish player),” Cardel said during the 96-88 win over the Meralco Bolts at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Williams finished with 29 points, with most of the output coming in the first half, which set the tone for the performance that ultimately resulted in Terrafirma ending seven straight losses against Meralco.

And getting backstopped by Juami Tiongson, who fired a game-high 30 points, Eric Camson and Alex Cabagnot during the contest is a good reason to believe that Dyip can produce at least a barrier if Williams and the residents can complement each other.

“I told our players to be ready, then I told Jordan that they need help from the people,” Cardel continued in Filipino. “And the good thing about him is that he gives confidence to his teammates.”

Tiongson, whose output is a career high short point, admits as much, saying the offensive outburst is the result of the confidence shown in him by Williams and his teammates.

“Kuya Alex (Cabagnot), Jordan (Williams), Eric (Camson), they all said ‘go ahead, we’ll look for you,'” Tiongson said.

Williams has left quite a strong impression after splitting Terrafirma from the first two games in the final conference of the 47th season.

Williams, 30, a product of North Texas in the U.S. NCAA Division I who spent most of his pro career in Mexico along with brief stints in England and Canada, impressed Cardel with his skills on the court — to that point. coach Terrafirma compared to the import to the legend of the National Basketball Association is generally considered to be the best baller of all time.

“When I came to the Philippines for the first time, I told myself that it does not act like an import,” said Cardel. “He’s a very gentle and down to earth person. I saw the video and he played like his name. I told him ‘You play like [Michael] Jordan.’”

Jordan scored 46 points in his PBA debut against Converge last Thursday, putting up 30 points in the first half before Terrafirma’s performance took a big nosedive after the break and lost, 130-115.

Key plays

It was the same scenario in Antipolo as Williams had 21 in the first 24 minutes that led to a 52-50 lead for Dyip entering the locker room. But Tiongson, perhaps the team’s top local, led a fourth-quarter run before Camson made key plays on both ends that scuttled the Bolts’ last comeback bid.

It was only Terrafirma’s fourth win in 34 games since winning three games midway through the 2021 Philippine Cup.

Meralco, on the other hand, was denied a 3-0 start and a solo lead after a rough performance from the start.

The Bolts struggled from the field, including 3-of-22 shooting from the rainbow nation.

Import KJ McDaniels 29 points and 19 rebounds did not result in a win for the Bolts, which was followed by a high of 17 after Tiongson’s three made it 86-69 in the fourth.

Jonathon Simmons scored 33 points as NLEX defeated NorthPort, 121-112, to climb into the lead with the other two—Converge and TNT—after winning twice in as many games.

He also had eight assists and five assists as he continued to focus on his PBA duties amid the plight of the Road Warriors management trying to keep him after the four games both sides agreed to.

Simmons has already received an offer to play again in China, but NLEX is hoping that the former NBA player can stay.

Analyze your weekly exercise

Read Next

For suggestions, complaints, or questions, please contact us.