For head coach Chot Reyes, TNT learned to accept how their prolific import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson dealt with frustrations that was evident in the Tropang Giga's latest win against the NLEX Road Warriors.
When two-time Best Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson stepped into the court, he meant business everytime.
But everything for the prolific do-it-all import is personal too– especially missed free throws.
“He [RHJ] really gets upset when he misses free throws. He was 50% today and he takes a lot of pride in that,” head coach Chot Reyes said in the aftermath of the TNT Tropang Giga’s 94-87 win over the NLEX Road Warriors in their PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup duel.
Despite a 23-point,14-rebound double-double, the lefty forward connected on just half of his 12 attempts from the charity stripe and shot a measly 28% clip from the field.
In some instances, RHJ isolated himself during huddles in a game where the Tropang Giga rolled to a fifth straight win and gained solo second in the team standings at 5-2.
For Reyes, it’s just a nature of their import that TNT learned to accept with.
“You will see during games that he mutters at himself, he curses himself. It’s all directed towards him and we learned to live with that and accept that because that’s who he is,” the multi-time tactician added.
The former Gilas Pilipinas head coach also reiterated that as long as anyone on his squad played hard, he had no problems with it.
“Basta nagpapakamatay ka sa loob, maski magsigawan tayo sa bench, okay lang sakin’ yun. I have no problem with that. Kaysa naman tahimik ka and pagpasok mo sa loob lalamya-lamya ka, di ba?”
[ALSO READ: Tropang Giga triumph vs Road Warriors does not come easy: 'NLEX is fighting for survival']
Up next for TNT is a heavyweight slugfest with Justin Brownlee and the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Friday, 7:30 p.m. at the PhilSports Arena.
[With reports from Gillian Trinidad, One Sports Digital]