By REYNALD MAGALLON
TNT head coach Chot Reyes allayed any concerns regarding the health of import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who was at the back of the Tropang Giga bench and in civilian clothes when the team wrapped up their eliminations assignment with a 99-79 victory over NorthPort.
Asked about the status of Hollis-Jefferson after the game, Reyes said that the team was just taking precautionary measures and just rested the import to get him recovered and be on his best health for the playoff run of the defending champions.
“If you will notice, we already managed his minutes in the last game. But after that game, we decided to completely rest up his ankle,” Reyes said, also pertaining to RHJ’s limited minutes in TNT’s stunning loss to Terrafirma.
The Tropang Giga were actually already a lock for the top spot even before their last two games and the coaching staff deemed it would only be wise to give him some break especially since he has also been dealing with some ankle issues all conference long.
For one, the playoffs is certainly not going to be any easier for TNT, playing every other day in the best-of-five quarterfinals series against Group B fourth seed but still potent NLEX.
“He should be okay. I think ganun naman sa playoffs eh, everyone naman meron nang iniinda. Little bits of aches and pains here and there. That’s why we wanted to make sure that we’re as close to a hundred percent as possible,” added Reyes.
While TNT breezed through the competitions to top Group A, health is becoming a major concern as aside from Hollis-Jefferson, key players like Kim Aurin and Rey Nambatac also missing a couple of their last few games.
Even Calvin Oftana failed to finish the game against NorthPort after sustaining a buster lower lip that required stitches.
Even with some health issues with his players, Reyes vowed to get his team prepared against NLEX, which seemed to have finally found a potent duo in Robert Bolick and import DeQuan Jones.
“We just have to be as prepared as possible, take advantage of these next two days to prepare a game plan that is going to make us as ready as possible for whoever it is that we face,” he added.
