MERALCO coach Norman Black initially had no clear idea of what Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has brought to the TNT table since he was conducting the Bolts' practices while the new import debuted for the Tropang Giga last Wednesday.
"I didn't see the entire game because we had practice. I just saw some of the clips of it," related Black. "I'm gonna watch when it comes back on TV tonight."
Black certainly knows his team should have its hands full when it collides with TNT Friday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
"It's another tough game because they're one of the top teams in the league," said Black, "but we're ready to play."
Meralco should indeed bring their A-game. The Bolts want to bounce back from an 86-94 loss to San Miguel Beer last week that relegated them to a 3-2 slate but must do so against a TNT crew aiming to run up their winning streak to five and grab solo leadership on a 7-1 record.
The Tropa's surge was capped by a cruising 138-116 win over Blackwater, when Hollis-Jefferson made a splash right on his first PBA game with 37 points on 14-of-23 field shooting, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
Sponsored content:
The all-around game dished out by the replacement for Jalen Hudson both pleased and surprised TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa. "How Rondae played today, iyon ang ine-expect namin, a little bit of everything. Rebounding, passing and running the floor, communicating on defense," he said.
"But I don't really expect him to score that much," added Lastimosa. "He's not a volume shooter like Jalen. But one good thing that's happening now is, we're moving the ball around, giving our shooters better looks."
Main recipient of Hollis-Jefferson's dimes was Roger Pogoy, who exploded for 40 points anchored on seven triples and gave Black additional notes on his must-do list.
"He doesn't look like a ball-dominant guy. But he was very efficient today," said Black after scanning the stats sheet of the TNT-Blackwater game. "I do know Pogoy had 40 and the new import had 37 so that's a pretty potent offense right now."
Still, Black has a general scheme, based on his earlier scouting and watching the replay of Wednesday's game on how his Bolts should tackle the Tropa's threats that include Mikey Williams, Jayson Castro, Glenn Khobuntin and Calvin Oftana.
Sponsored content:
"We've played them before, so we pretty much know how to defend them, how to attack them," stated Black, who is expected to rely mostly on KJ McDaniels, Chris Newsome, Allein Maliksi, Bong Quinto and Aaron Black. (NC)
