PBA Finals: TNT tries to drive Ginebra out of groove again

While TNT has been making stops, nothing Barangay Ginebra has done on defense has slowed down Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in the PBA Finals. AUGUST DELA CRUZ.

TNT’s defense has been on full display through the first two games of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals that Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone couldn’t help but admit feeling outmaneuvered by his longtime friend and adversary Chot Reyes.

But Reyes, whose Tropang Giga will look to secure a commanding 3-0 lead on Friday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum, offered nothing complex as to why they have the Gin Kings’ number at this stage of the championship fight.

“Our focus is just knowing what Ginebra wants to do and trying our best to stop them and making them work for it,” Reyes said ahead of the 7:30 p.m. contest that was oddly scheduled on All Saints Day.

READ: PBA Finals: TNT has Ginebra ‘figured out,’ admits Justin Brownlee

The Tropang Giga have won back-to-back games, including the 96-84 victory two nights earlier at the Big Dome, primarily because of the way they have forced the Gin Kings to average 86 points in the Finals on a 33-percent shooting clip.

One glaring statistic is Ginebra’s three-point shooting, which has been practically nonexistent with only nine of 48 attempts (18.8 percent) converted after going 7-of-27 (26 percent) in Game 2.

“You don’t need to be a genius to see what’s going on,” Cone lamented. “I [have been] totally outcoached and outclassed by Chot and Rondae’s amazing. [And] I feel bad for our players because I’m not helping them out at all.”

READ: PBA Finals: TNT ‘not thinking’ about 2-0 lead over Ginebra

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson continued his workhorse play for the Tropang Giga with 37 points spiked by a PBA career-high six triples on top of 13 rebounds and seven assists while also maintaining his defensive effort.

“I just shifted my mindset,” said Hollis-Jefferson, who recalled missing a lot against Cone and Gilas Pilipinas while being on the losing end of last year’s gold medal match at the Hangzhou Asian Games as Jordan’s naturalized player.

“I knew that was going to be the game plan and they were willing to live with that the whole game,” he added. “I guess they thought that it was a fluke or what, but I’m a professional player. I work with it and I believe in it. My teammates and coaches, they believe and they tell me to shoot.”

Obvious struggles

Barangay Ginebra import Justin Brownlee during the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals. –PBA Images

TNT shot 14 threes overall to also bare its teeth on offense. Calvin Oftana and Glenn Khobuntin knocked down three each, on their way to having the same amount of points with 13.

Rival import Justin Brownlee, meanwhile, was somewhat held to 19 points after making seven of 17 shots, but missing all two threes and one four-pointer. Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar and Stephen Holt got their scoring numbers too but likewise struggled even as rookie RJ Abarrientos was once again a nonfactor for the Gin Kings.

“It seemed like they got us figured out on the defensive side,” Brownlee conceded after going down 0-2 in the Finals for the first time in his storied PBA career.

The Tropang Giga are out to keep that trend even as the Gin Kings hope to live by their signature never-say-die mantra and launch a turnaround, provided they can solve the riddle.

“You can’t stop Justin Brownlee, he’s such a great player. But at least make it difficult for him, make him work for it. Same with Scottie, same with Japeth, same with RJ and Stephen Holt. They’re all very good players,” said Reyes.

“We know we cannot stop them, but at least [we can] find ways to make it difficult. That has been our mentality, not only in this Finals, but all throughout this series.”

With that being said, Brownlee offered some hopeful words for himself and his team.

“We’ve been having some struggles, offensively. That’s obvious,” said Brownlee. “But you know, it’s the first to four [that gets the title], not the first to two.

“So we’re still confident and we still have faith that we’ll figure out and try to get a rhythm in Game 3 and try to turn the series around.”