TNT’s prolific import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson pretty much set the tone in the Tropang Giga’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals Game 1 win.
On the morning of Game 1 of the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup Finals between the TNT Tropang Giga and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, TNT coach Chot Reyes was encountering some bad luck on the links that he hoped wouldn’t rub off on his team.
“I played in a golf tournament this morning and I was missing putts this short,” he said while holding his hands around two feet apart. “They kept leaking out. I said, it’s okay if I miss my shots now, as long as my players make their shots tonight.
“So luckily, that’s what happened. I’ll take that anytime. In the end, we can play all the defense we want, but the game is still about putting the ball in the hoop.”
And putting the ball in the hoop, especially behind the 3-point line, is precisely what the Tropang Giga did better than the Barangay on Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena as they took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with an impressive 95-89 victory.
TNT controlled the tempo for pretty much the whole game, seizing the lead for good at 17-14 on an RR Pogoy triple with 4:05 left in the first quarter. Ginebra tried several times to unleash one of their patented rallies, but the Tropang Giga stifled them each time with an unforgiving defense.
“We talked about it at halftime and we said for sure Ginebra is going to make a run and we just reminded the players to stay calm, to expect it. We know that this team is too good, too strong, too deep for us to have that kind of a lead all throughout.
“So they made a big run but we came back because the players kept their composure and I think that’s the most important thing. And then the rest was just our defense forcing them to take difficult shots. So I think that was the story of the second half.”
RHJ leads the way
The story for the whole game, though, was import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who played the entire 48 minutes and finished with 34 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists all while observing Ramadan.
RHJ deflected all the praise, though, yet even to the untrained eye it was clear he was the difference-maker.
“First, I want to give a lot of credit to our guys,” he said. “We played extremely hard defensively. That was a big part of the scheme tonight.
“Chot gave us all the intangibles, everything that we needed to do and we executed, the guys executed. So I want to give credit to those guys.”
For Reyes, it was indeed a team effort, especially on defense. But when it came to their offense, everything revolved around RHJ.
“It’s still about scoring points,” he said. “So the key is for us to get good shots. As long as we keep consistently getting good shots, some will fall, some will not, but at least the entire objective of our offense is to get good shots.
“So I think that’s what you saw. When they weren’t helping too much on Rondae, then he was getting his points, and then when they started helping on Rondae, then it opened up the others. So Kim (Aurin) made a three, Glenn (Khobuntin) made a couple, Rey (Nambatac) made a couple, aside of course from Roger (Pogoy) and Calvin (Oftana).”
“So hopefully, we can sustain that. That’s the shooting we need.”
For the game, the Tropang Giga shot 14-of-37 from three-point land, compared to 7-of-25 for Ginebra. Hollis-Jefferson himself missed all four triples he attempted, but found success in the paint where he made 14 of 25 shots.
“I was just being aggressive, being aggressive. My deep shot wasn’t falling, but I’m always able to get to the rim. I’m a really good pull-up jump shooter. So I was able to find other ways to put the ball in the basket.”
On to Game 2
Ginebra coach Tim Cone was in no mood for chit-chat after Game 1, and understandably so. It’s clear to him that TNT was simply the better team in Game 1, just like they were the better team in last conference’s Governors’ Cup Finals. They have to flip the narrative starting with Game 2 on Sunday.
“I don’t know what you want me to say other than we didn’t play well,” he told the assembled media afterwards. “We have to understand this is going to be a lot tougher series than it was the last one.
“We got a little bit confused out there. Credit their defense. They defended really well, as usual. We’ve got to step up our defense as well. We make way too many defensive mistakes, and, yeah, it’s Game 1, all right? It’s not what we wanted, but we’ll deal with it, and we’ll move forward.
“I’m getting kind of tired of saying we were outplayed and outcoached. I’m getting tired of saying that, so we got to change the narrative.”
For Chot Reyes, though, it might be a matter of just sticking with what worked before and during Game 1. When asked if he was going to play golf again on Sunday morning, he had a short reply.
“Secret.”
Banner Images from PBA Media Bureau.