TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.–PBA IMAGES
TNT ended the first round of the PBA Governors’ Cup in good spirits after winning four of five games despite dealing with banged bodies.
And now coach Chot Reyes, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and the Tropang Giga, who on Thursday produced a 107-89 defeat of the winless Terrafirma Dyip at Ninoy Aquino Stadium, head into the latter end of the group stage facing the team that served as a dent to their impressive record thus far.
Will TNT, tied with Meralco atop Group A, come into Sunday’s matchup against Converge at the same venue with a chip on its shoulders?
“You can’t avoid that, that’s unavoidable,” Reyes said. “But we don’t approach games that way. We approach games as they are.
“We don’t have any external or extra motivations or a chip on our shoulder, except that it is an important ballgame for us and we need to be ready with our best effort,” added the Tropang Giga mentor.
It was that game where TNT fell victim to a last-second four-point shot courtesy of Converge import Scotty Hopson, the situation compounded at the worst way for the Tropang Giga when instructions to foul with the FiberXers in penalty were not heeded.
The Tropang Giga have since rebounded from that 96-95 loss with two consecutive victories, including the mastery of the Dyip despite missing Calvin Oftana due to a hip problem. A win over the FiberXers in their upcoming meeting may serve well for them moving forward.
21.2 losing average
“We’re on the same page here, we want to win and we got to do what we have to do; listening to coaches, going over the little things, learning from our mistakes from the last time we played them and staying focus for 48 minutes, you know, the game isn’t over till it’s over,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
“So I feel like if we do that, we’ll be in a good bubble,” added Hollis-Jefferson, who racked up 26 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks for TNT despite playing through an ankle injury.
RR Pogoy, Poy Erram and Kim Aurin were also key for the Tropang Giga in sending the Dyip winless in the first round.
Terrafirma was without two key players in Juami Tiongson and Kemark Carino, with the former perhaps the most sorely missed for his scoring ability.
Import Antonio Hester and Christian Standhardinger, despite the shortage in manpower, did make Terrafirma stay close for three periods until TNT pulled away in the latter stretch of the fourth.
The Dyip lost all of their matches by double figures with a margin of defeat at 21.2 points.