The TNT Tropang Giga is by far the best defensive team in this PBA Governors’ Cup. In fact, it has held opponents to less than 90 points on average all conference long—and that includes the 88, 84, and 85 points it surrendered to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Finals.
That TNT defense has been so good that Ginebra coach Tim Cone admitted after Game 3 that his team is yet to figure it out. He also could not help but give his counterpart, Chot Reyes, his flowers for transforming the Tropa from an offensive powerhouse to a defensive juggernaut.
It also helps that Reyes has an ace up his sleeve: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
TNT Defense Is RHJ Personified
In fact, Cone thinks that TNT’s defense is much like its super import—tenacious, hardworking, unyielding.
“You have to take your cap off to Coach Chot, he’s transformed that team into the likeness of Rondae. It’s not just him that’s playing defense, it’s everybody—and they’re very conscious of it,” Cone pointed out after Game 3. “We’re struggling offensively, and we’re trying to find avenues to escape, but we’re not finding them yet.”
Struggling in this case might be an understatement, as Ginebra is yet to even break the 90-point barrier after averaging a prolific 115 points in the semis against the San Miguel Beermen. That’s a credit to the TNT defense, of course, and the head of that snake is obviously Hollis-Jefferson, who has taken on the biggest challenge of all: Contain his fellow super import, Justin Brownlee.
It has been mission accomplished so far for RHJ, limiting JB to just 20 points per game on 42% shooting overall. Cone is hardly a surprise. It appears he might even be expecting it from the NBA veteran.
“If you’re gonna have Rondae Hollis-Jefferson guarding you for 35 minutes of the game, you’re gonna struggle,” Cone told reporters. “I remember talking to Erik Spoelstra and telling him about Rondae and he goes, ‘That guy is an elite defender.’ He was known as an elite defender in the NBA, and that’s why he was in the NBA—he was such an elite defender, an elite stopper…”
That RHJ-led defense is making things hard for Ginebra in the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals, and it might just be the key to TNT winning it all again this conference.
