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JORDAN WILLIAMS BIG ON GB DEBUT

By on November 26, 2021

Jordan Williams got the call. And he answered.

All that could have been asked of him on his senior Great Britain debut.

Just what was needed when his team were a mere four points up with six minutes left in the fourth quarter on Thursday night in Newcastle when energiser bunny Ashley Hamilton picked up a fatal fifth foul and the London Lions centre was summoned off the bench as his replacement.

Two rebounds, a steal, a free throw and a dunk to follow and a +15 efficiency rating that factored heavily in a late charge towards a 78-69 victory.

“I missed a couple of easy ones,” he rues. No matter. Small details. A fine bow for the 26-year-old and a celebration from an opening win in the qualifiers for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Especially when Williams was not even in the original squad of 24 before the summons came via his agent.

“It’s always an honour to get called up for GB,” he said. “I haven’t been with GB since the Under-20s.

“And it’s just experience. I’ve gained experience under my belt playing with the guys. They helped me integrate with the team within this small window. So it was just fun playing with these guys.”

His mission from head coach Marc Steutel was simple. To be a blockade.

“I’m just coming to the game and just playing defence,” Williams recounts. “Because obviously that was what got us through the game.”

Hopefully a repeat on Sunday in Turkey, where the hosts are coming off a loss to Belarus but are expected to inject reinforcements in Istanbul from their EuroLeague contingent.

GB won’t sweat after flying out from Tyneside at the crack of dawn on Friday with a roster of 13 that also includes reserve Jacob Round.

“We take a lot of confidence,” Williams insists. “We just come off a win. So we’ve got to just take that that same defensive intensity into the next game.”

Same for him.

“I’m just taking every day by day,” he adds. “Just trying to get better every day and just improve. We’ll see what comes in the future.”

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