Chot brushes off Rondae tantrum

TNT head coach Chot Reyes doesn’t take it against Rondae Hollis-Jefferson when he stepped away from a team huddle to vent his frustration during their game against NLEX.

It was one of the rare nights when the two-time Best Import winner struggled from the field compounded by uncharacteristic misses from the foul line.

In fact, he had two late-game bricks from the stripe that could have given NLEX a chance to mount a scare if not for the Road Warriors also having a bad outing in the Tropang Giga’s 94-87 escape in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

“That’s Rondae, he really gets upset when he misses free throws. He’s 50 percent (from the free throw) today. That’s a big beef among us, between us as well, his ability to make free throws. He takes a lot of pride in that. He works a lot on his free throws during practice,” Reyes said.

Hollis-Jefferson went 6-of-12 from the foul line. He finished with 23 points but shot 7-of-25 from the field.

“Thankfully, this was one of the games where we could afford it because I thought we played some pretty good defense as well,” Reyes added.

The prized reinforcement grabbed 14 rebounds with seven assists, three blocks and a steal in TNT’s fifth straight win for a 5-2 win-loss record.

“We’ve learned to live with that and accept that because that’s what he is. Like I always tell my players, I don’t care if we have a shouting match on the sideline as long as when you come in, you’re giving your best,” Reyes said.

“As long as you’re going all-out inside, I don’t mind if we bark at each other at the bench. I have no problems with that, as against keeping it quiet and marching inside the court without energy.”

“That’s the dynamic not only between Rondae and me but with the whole team. That’s a small thing compared to what he gives us inside the court.”

Reyes trusts his import to bounce back from a poor shooting night especially with TNT taking on Barangay Ginebra in a rematch of the Governors’ Cup finals today at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

“He knows during the crucial games, we have Ginebra coming up, he cannot shoot that way from the free throw line,” the veteran mentor said.