HELP isn't coming anytime soon for embattled PBA Governors’ Cup defending champion TNT as resident import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson still has a long timeline for a return.
Team manager Jojo Lastimosa disclosed the three-time Best Import is set to arrive in the country in the first week of August, but won’t be able to play yet until sometime in October.
COLUMN: Darius' days numbered after TNT suffers a double Juami
That meant Darius Days – or someone else should he be replaced – will have to hold the fort for the Tropang 5G until Hollis-Jefferson is healthy enough to be back on the court.
The 31-year-old former NBA player is still rehabilitating and recovering from the ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered while playing on loan for the Meralco Bolts during the EASL Season 3.
“He’ll be arriving on August 2. I think aalis siya ng US on the 31st,” said Lastimosa. “Yung rehab naman niya, he’s progessing well.”
But there’s no clearance for Hollis-Jefferson to play yet, according to the member of the 50 PBA Greatest Players of all time.
“Makikita namin sa pagdating, Pagbalik niya siguro mag-uumpisa na siya ng full court na mga run ng team,” he said.
The urgency for Hollis-Jefferson's return grew as the Tropang 5G got off to a slow start in their title-retention bid.
They suffered a second straight loss Saturday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, ambushed in overtime by the Terrafirma Dyip, 111-106, in a game where Days was held to just 10 points (3-of-11 from the floor) and five rebounds while battling foul trouble.
TNT now carries a 1-2 record in Group A and will face next the top three teams in its bracket, namely Converge, San Miguel, and NLEX.
And the bad news, according to Lastimosa, is that Hollis-Jefferson won’t be coming on board at least by October already.
“We’re looking at, best case scenario, by October pagbalik natin (from break). Mga last four games or bago matapos ang eliminations,” said the TNT official.
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