ILAGAN, Isabela – Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is just as thrilled teaming up with rival Justin Brownlee for the Meralco Bolts in their EASL Home and Away Season 3 campaign.
The 30-year-old TNT resident import said it’s nice to have his 37-year-old Barangay Ginebra counterpart now on Meralco’s side, giving the team added dimension to its plays.
Brownlee teaming up with him is certainly a dream, according to the former NBA player, and makes Meralco a force to be reckoned with as it also has the brawny Ismael Romero for its other import and Iranian point guard Sina Vahedi as its Asian import.
READ Black Bears bringing back 7-6 Sam Deguara in rematch with Bolts
“Now being on the same team and both of us in the game, it’s almost hard for anybody to stop us,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
“I’m excited. Everybody knows how I feel about him. I’m just looking forward for him to be on our side, and now not only for us, but for the team, for the country. I think it will really be exciting.”
Hollis-Jefferson and Brownlee tangled in the three PBA Finals in the past, with the TNT import getting the better of the beloved Ginebra reinforcement in all of those meetings.
But despite the rivalry, the lefty forward has nothing but respect to the Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player.
Photo: EASL
“We raised each other’s level of competitiveness when we’re playing, and we both make each other a lot better, I believe,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
First test for the souped-up Meralco side are the Macau Black Bears, the same team the Bolts defeated the last time they played, 92-74, at the Cebu Coliseum.
That hiked the Bolts’ record at 2-2 to take the No. 2 spot in Group B.
But the Black Bears arrived in the country’s corn capital also armed to the teeth after enlisting again the services of 7-foot-6 center Sam Deguara.
The import from Malta is no total stranger to Filipino basketball fans, more so to Brownlee, who played against Deguara in the defunct ASEAN Basketball League and just recently during a friendly between Gilas Pilipinas and Macau Black Bears prior to the FIBA Asia Cup.
But Hollis-Jefferson believes Meralco’s morale is on a high now especially with Brownlee finally completing the roster the team initially had in its mind just before the start of the season.
“It’s just being out there and having some fun and competing,” he said of the atmosphere within the team right now.
“I think we’re all on the same page.”
Game time for the Meralco-Macau rematch is at 6:10 p.m. on Saturday at the Capital Arena.
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