Chris McCullough spoke up about the criticisms he received following his 43rd William Jones Cup championship performance, defending his commitment to Strong Group-Pilipinas.
Strong Group Athletics-Pilipinas star Chris McCullough immediately broke his silence regarding the backlash he faced after his performance in the 43rd William Jones Cup championship match against Chinese Taipei-A on Sunday, July 21 in Taiwan.
Despite helping his squad to an 83-79 overtime victory, McCullough was criticized by fans for his subpar scoring output in the final game against Chinese Taipei-A.
[ALSO READ: Strong Group survives Chinese Taipei-A in OT, claims Philippines' seventh Jones Cup crown]
The former San Miguel Beermen import finished with a tournament-low 12 points on a lowly 4-of-16 field goal clip.
Struggling for most of the game, McCullough did push the lead back in SGA’s favor in overtime at 80-78 before getting fouled out in the final 2:05.
Despite his poor performance against Chinese Taipei-A, McCullough was named MVP of the tournament after averaging 21.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks.
After their championship victory, McCullough took to X to express his pride in his team's achievement while addressing the negativity directed his way.
“Imma respond to the slander one time and one time only. First of all, congrats to us on the championship of the Jones Cup,” McCullough wrote.
“I always rep the flag wherever I played, so for some of you fans who’re saying all of this nonsense is ridiculous, it's because I didn’t have the best game in a championship game. Now I fix games? Come on now. It happens, and it is what it is,” he added.
McCullough went on to commend his teammate, Tajuan Agee, who stepped up big time for SGA, embodying the "next man up" mentality that carried his squad to victory.
“It’s always the next man up & T [Tajuan Agee] stepped up big tonight! That’s next man up mentally. He picked up my slack and got the job done,” said McCullough.
SGA became the seventh team from the Philippines to win the annual tournament and the second in the past five years, following Mighty Sports' triumph in 2019.