The NBA veteran, now the TNT import, has the chance to exorcise the ghosts of that past as he aims to put them on the verge of clinching the PBA Governors' Cup title.
RHJ looks to exorcise old ghosts on All Saints' Day
At a glance
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson remembers the pain of Jordan's heartbreaking defeat to Gilas Pilipinas in the gold medal match of the Asian Games men's basketball last year.
The memory served him well, with head coach Tim Cone and naturalized player Justin Brownlee basking in the glory of the Hangzhou feat that was also celebrated by millions back home.
The NBA veteran, now the TNT import, has the chance to exorcise the ghosts of that past as he aims to put them on the verge of clinching the PBA Governors' Cup title.
The Tropang Giga try to take a commanding 3-0 lead against the Barangay Ginebra Kings at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday, All Saints Day, Nov. 1.
Tip off of the match is at 7:30 p.m. with another huge crowd expected to troop the venue.
Hollis-Jefferson, once only dared by Cone and Brownlee to beat them from the deep, proved to be the biggest thorn to the side of Ginebra, drilling six triples on his way to 37 points. He added 13 rebounds and seven assists and delivered the killing blows in a no relief effort.
“It was basically a shift in the mindset because in the Asian Games, they forced me to shoot a lot of threes, and they beat us for the gold medal,” said Hollis-Jefferson who played for Jordan as a naturalized player during the continental meet.
“I knew that was going to be the game plan. They were willing to live with that the whole game. I guess they thought that it was a fluke or it might happen. But I’m a professional player. I work on it everyday. I believe in it. My teammates, coaches, they believe me. They told me to shoot,” he added.
But it was not a one-man show alone for TNT as guys like Jayson Castro, Calvin Oftana, Rey Nambatac, RR Pogoy and Glenn Khobuntin all proved to be the perfect complement to Hollis-Jefferson’s aggressive play.
With TNT firing on all cylinders through the first two games, Cone was baffled at what else his team could do to put a stop to Tropang Giga’s dominance from both ends of the floor.
“I don’t know what’s going on. I’m totally being outcoached and outclassed by Chot,” said Cone.
“I feel bad for our players because I’m not helping them at all. We’ll figure out, figure out what’s going on, but right now I’m just being totally outcoached,” he added.
Ginebra has been missing its usual self in the first two games of the series and that’s largely behind its poor three-point shooting – one of its potent weapons that brought them to finals.For one, the Kings also need to find ways to give the ball to Brownlee and give him enough space to operate after being hampered by TNT’s league-best defense.