Despite playing in three leagues simultaneously, Eastern managed to reach the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup playoffs.
TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson could not help but marvel at the level of commitment and determination Eastern had shown despite a hectic schedule playing in three leagues here and abroad.
Guest team Eastern played against the twice-to-beat TNT Tropang Giga in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals, less than 24 hours after their 61-87 loss to the Taoyuan Pilots in the East Asia Super League.
“Man, I wanna give a lot of credit to those guys, to be able to play a game, get on the plane -- did they get on the plane today? I wanna give a lot of credit to those guys. That's tough,” Hollis-Jefferson said.
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If there’s someone in the PBA who could somehow understand how taxing Eastern’s routine was, it’s the former Brooklyn Net.
After all, this set up is somehow similar to his experience playing back-to-back games in the NBA.
“I mean, we got back-to-backs, for sure. We might finish a game at 11 something, then you got media, you got guys taking their time showering and getting treatment. We might get to the plane about 2 a.m., then you gotta fly from New York to, let's say, Memphis, or Texas, or something. You get in about 4 or 5 a.m.,” he said.
“Only thing you can do is just sleep. Just take a nap, rest. They say no shootaround, get the treatment that you need and hopefully people are adjusted to it.”
Still, Eastern’s ordeal was quite different.
“We're playing 82 games. Few games we have back-to-backs, every team I think does have. That's different. You fly private the whole night. So, yea,” he added.
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Fatigue simply took its toll on the guest team as RHJ and the Tropang Giga hammered out a 109-93 win in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals.
TNT will take on either Rain or Shine or Converge in the semifinals.
“But our guys were ready. Our guys came prepared. We worked hard in practice. We did everything that we needed to do to be ready to succeed in the game. I think that's what it came down to,” he said.