Williams, Intal are week's best players in Philippine Cup

January 12, 2010

One has already made his mark in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) while the other has yet to make a bigger impact.

Sta. Lucia Realty's Kelly Williams and Barangay Ginebra's JC Intal earned KFC/Accel-PBA Press Corps Co-Players of the Week honors after boosting their respective teams' campaigns in the homestretch of the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup.

Williams and Intal shared the award after putting up solid numbers to lead their respective teams to back-to-back wins during the January 4 to 10 playdate in tIt was Williams’ second POTW award when he shared the honors with Alaska’s LA Tenorio for the period of Nov. 16 to 22 while Intal earned his first weekly citation.

Williams, a former rookie of the year winner and 2007 MVP, led the Realtors in their victories over Rain or Shine and Burger King. He averaged 20.0 points, 18.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.0 blocked shot as Sta. Lucia improved to a 9-6 record to move closer of claiming an outright quarterfinals berth.

"(Williams) has been working hard since he was given the go-signal to play," said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez of his prized forward who still needs to fully recover from the blood disorder that sidelined him in the latter stages of the last season’s Fiesta Cup.

"As his coach I'm so happy and proud of him. The last two games were an indication of how (Williams) is doing to get back to his game. He's been acting as the leader of this team. I do hope and pray that he will recover fully from his illness," added Fernandez.

For Williams, it is simply a matter of what he and his teammates can do to help Sta. Lucia’s cause. "We have been working hard as a team and I'm impressed at how the team is responding to coach Boyet's challenges to work hard."

JC Intal drives past San Miguel's Lordy Tugade in a recent game. - GMANews.TV

While Intal, after scoring a career-high 20 points in the Kings’ 106-97 Christmas Day win over Coca-Cola, proved he can be a reliable scorer in Ginebra’s two victories against Talk ‘N Text and Alaska.

Intal logged in averages of 17.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks in those wins as the Kings occupied third place with an 11-6 record.

Ginebra coach Jong Uichico said Intal's efforts to improve on his game are the primary reason why the former Ateneo Blue Eagle is having a break-out conference. “He is playing to his potential because he is a hard worker and is willing to work on his weaknesses." – GMANews.TV