Rondae Hollis-Jefferson doesn’t mind playing the entire game if it would lead to the title of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup.
The prolific reinforcement played the entire 48 minutes to lead the Tropang Giga to a 96-84 win over Barangay Ginebra in Game 2 of their best-of-seven finals series last Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Hollis-Jefferson dropped 37 points and 13 rebounds to help the Tropang Giga gain a 2-0 series lead.
“I was blessed. It also comes with the work ethic, you know, putting in that extra work, cardio, not being afraid to do cardio on your off seasons and running, I think that goes a long way,” Hollis-Jefferson said.
“Chot (Reyes) is big on being in shape. I know I can’t come into the season catching my breath. So, when I come here, I just got to be ready.”
The 29-year-old Hollis-Jefferson has been a workhorse in the series.
In Game 1, he logged nearly 46 minutes, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds to spearhead the Tropang Giga to a 104-88 victory.
Hollis-Jefferson also took a page from his poor performance for Jordan in the 19th Asian Games in China, where he scored 24 points but was limited to 3-of-14 from the three-point area in the gold medal match against Tim Cone and Gilas Pilipinas.
Now, Hollis-Jefferson learned his lesson and made sure to knock down those open shots from the rainbow area.
“I mean, it was it was basically a shift in the mindset because I don’t know if you guys watch, but in Asian Games, they forced me to shoot a lot of threes and they beat us with a gold medal game,” said Hollis-Jefferson after connecting six of his 12 long bombs in Game 2.
“We talked about that and I kind of just shifted my mindset. I knew that was going to be the game plan and they were willing to live with that the whole game.”
“I guess they thought that it was a fluke or it wouldn’t happen. But I’m a professional player. I work on it every day and I believe in it.”