Congrats to the ROY!!! And First Team all defense!
<-- see avy
Props Ryan!
[h3]
Kelly is MVP, Ryan is ROY[/h3]
Thursday, 14 August 2008 (Viewed 10 times)
by
JosefRamos
IT IS harvest time after a fruitful campaign this season for the Sta. Lucia Realtors.
Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes, as expected, captured the 33rd PBA season's highest individual honors in Wednesday's Leo Awards at the Araneta Coliseum.
Before the opening of Game 4 of the 2008 PBA Smart Fiesta Conference championship series between the Air21 Express and the Ginebra Gin Kings, the 6-foot-7 Williams, 26, received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy.
Rookie Ryan Reyes, on the other hand, earned the 2008 Rookie of the Year honor after besting Coca-Cola's Ronjay Buenafe and Welcoat's Joe De Vance.
Williams, who drove the Sta. Lucia Realtors to their first-ever Philippine Cup crown this season, garnered totaled 2,762 points to Arwind Santos' 1,775 and Jayjay Helterbrand's 1,158 and it is widely believed the 6-foot-6 Fil-Am truly deserves the citation.
"It's been an awesome year and winning the MVP is the icing on the cake," said Williams, wearing a brown Barong Tagalog, brown pants and white sneakers.
The fourth Fil-Am player to win the MVP after Ricky Brown, Asi Taulava and Eric Menk, Williams said it felt great winning the award but he stressed "my main purpose is to honor God and help my team grow."
The points were based from final statistics and votes cast by the media, players, television coveror and the PBA, plus his statistical points.
The reigning slam dunk champion averaged 18.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks in 53 games.
Philippine Cup champion Sta. Lucia Realty had the most number of players to win an award with Williams, Reyes and Omolon going home with five honors among themselves.
Air21, Ginebra and Alaska had two awardees each while Coca-Cola, Talk n Text and Red Bull had one apiece.
"It's a bountiful harvest for us after all these years. It's harvest time and I think it's about time. It's the most rewarding season for the team," said Sta. Lucia govenor Buddy Encarnado.
Williams, Santos and Helterbrand were automatically voted into the Mythical First Team along with Coca-Coca's Asi Taulava and Ginebra's Mark Caguioa.
Alaska's Willie Miller, the only guard to have won the MVP trophy twice, led the Second Team along with teammate Sonny Thoss, Red Bull's Cyrus Baguio, Purefoods' Kerby Raymundo and SLR's Bitoy Omolon.
Baguio copped the Most Improved Player plum.
Williams, Santos, Reyes, Purefoods' Marc Pingris and Air21's Wynne Arboleda made up the All-Defensive Team with Talk N Text's Ali Peek the unanimous choice for the Sportsmanship award.