RONDAE Hollis-Jefferson admitted playing hero-ball in the dying seconds and costing TNT in a 71-70 Game Two loss to Barangay Ginebra in Sunday's PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The talented import admitted messing up the Tropang Giga's final two possessions that could have given them the win and a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven title series.
Instead, the Kings managed to eke out a close win and make it a 1-1 series.
"I'll probably watch that shot 20 times. You know, I want to say two or three possessions I didn't even get a shot off. So that's on me," said the former NBA player afterwards.
Twice, Hollis-Jefferson couldn't get a shot off with TNT trailing by single a basket in the final 32 seconds of the thrilling game played before a crowd of 12,925.
Initially, he was whistled for a shot clock violation as he tried to fight through a Ginebra double team.
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Then TNT got another one final shot at a game winner after an errant Scottie Thompson pass was intercepted by Calvin Oftana.
But coming off a timeout, Hollis-Jefferson got himself tapped by a triple team and failed to launch an attempt before the final buzzer.
All of these were not lost on the two-time Best Import winner.
“Yeah, I expected the double [team]. You know, they (Kings) don’t want me to get the shot out the last seconds. They knew I wanted to shoot the ball, but when I lost it, I just couldn’t pick it back up. And the rest was history,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
Even for a veteran player like him, the TNT import said the way the team lost owing to his persistence to have the ball in his hands was a learning experience for him.
And yes, he doesn’t mind if coach Chot Reyes admonish him about it.
“That’s something I want to get better at or grow from it. You know, I’ll watch it. I’m not afraid to see where I messed up, where I made a mistake,” the 29-year-old Hollis-Jefferson admitted.
“Hopefully, Chot calls me out on it. I’m good with that, so it’s all about getting better.”
Despite the costly mistakes and his shooting struggles (6-of-23), Hollis-Jefferson still finished with 25 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and a steal in another no-relief job.
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