RONDAE Hollis-Jefferson admitted he expected Barangay Ginebra to let him shoot from afar in Game Two of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals.
The TNT import made sure that the Gin Kings paid for the gambit dearly, draining a PBA career-high six threes on his way to 37 points in the Tropang Giga's 96-84 win on Wednesday night.
READ RHJ, TNT back Ginebra against the wall with Game 2 masterclass
Hollis-Jefferson said he changed his mindset by being more aggressive on offense, expecting that he would be left open from the outside where he attempted 12 three-point shots.
How did he know?
It stemmed from the strategy that Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone employed during Gilas Pilipinas’ gold-medal match against the RHJ-led Jordan in the Asian Games.
“It was basically a shift in the mindset because in the Asian Games, they forced me to shoot a lot of threes, and they beat us for the gold medal,” said Jordan's naturalized player.
In that gold-medal match, Hollis-Jefferson topscored with 24 points but only shot 3-of-14 from threes in Jordan’s 80-70 defeat to the Philippines in Hangzhou, China.
Though he doesn’t usually make that many threes in the game, Hollis-Jefferson said he has been working on that outside shot all conference long.
“We talked about that and I kinda shifted my mindset,” said Hollis-Jefferson, whose previous postseason (quarterfinals, semifinals, finals)-high in three-point attempts this conference was six.
“I knew that was going to be the game plan. They were willing to live with that the whole game. I guess they thought that it was a fluke or it might happen. But I’m a professional player. I work on it everyday,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
However, practicing the shots is half the battle for Hollis-Jefferson as he is thankful that he has the green light from his coaches and teammates to take outside shots in Game Two.
“I believe in it. My teammates, coaches, they believe me. They told me to shoot,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
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