TNT Import Donte Greene. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Just when TNT thought it finally had the right import on Friday, Donte Greene failed to meet the heavy expectations that were placed on him.
And the former Sacramento King didn’t deny his displeasure over his subpar debut in the PBA for the KaTropa despite the 92-89 win over Blackwater..
“That was horrible,” said Greene, who had 22 points but shot a paltry 9-of-28 clip from the field while grabbing 13 rebounds and two steals.. “It was rough.”
READ: TNT pulls rug from under Blackwater
Coach Nash Racela is hopeful that despite Greene’s underwhelming debut, he can still be the player who impressed the management back in its scouting trips.
“It’s really hard when you go to a game not knowing what to expect. You also have to understand that this is the first time he’s played in the Philippines. A lot of our imports, especially for the first-timers, they really have to experience first-hand the kind of basketball that we have here in the Philippines. They think it’s going to be easy playing here, but it’s not. They only realize that when they play the actual game. For Donte, he needs to give us more than we gave today,” he said.
Racela, though, is giving Greene a little bit more time to get used to the Philippine style of basketball, but he is expecting him to deliver what he is asked of him.
“Personally, I’m not satisfied because I know he could give us more than what we gave today. You only learn through experience and actual games. Hopefully after this game, he will see what we needs from him,” said the softspoken mentor.
That fact is not lost on Greene, who knows that he needs to bring a different level of intensity for the KaTropa in their next game.
“I need to double my performance. That’s why I’m here for. I need to be much better. It didn’t go how I planned but we got the win and that’s the most important thing. We got some things we need to work on and hopefully, I’ll have a better game next Friday,” he said.
Racela, though, said that the KaTropa won’t shy away from exploring their options if Greene continues his trend of bad shooting nights.
“We always try to prepare the team with a possible replacement import, but that’s already team manager Virgil Villavicencio’s job,” he said.