HANGZHOU, China — A familiar foe will be blocking Gilas Pilipinas’ path to the quarterfinals when it battles Jordan in the pool play of the men’s basketball event of the 19th Asian Games on Saturday at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium here.
Game time is at 5:30 p.m. with Gilas clashing with a Jordanian side powered by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, the do-it-all import who led TNT Tropang Giga to the Governors’ Cup title of the Philippine Basketball Association.
Both the Philippines and Jordan have yet to lose in their first two matches against Bahrain and Thailand, making their encounter very important as it will determine who will advance to the quarterfinals in Group C.
Prior to their encounter, Gilas bumped into Hollis-Jefferson during practice on Friday in which the naturalized Jordanian hugged Gilas coach Tim Cone, rival Bronwlee and teammate Calvin Oftana.
Despite the pleasantries, Cone said winning over Jordan will not be easy.
“They’re gonna be tough,” said Cone after Gilas survived Thailand and a barrage of three-point shots from Tyler Lamb and Frederick Lish, 87-72.
“What can you say? They blew this team (Thais) out by 37 points, and we only beat them by what, 15 or whatever? So if you look at it that way, we don’t have much of a chance.”
“But I think (if) you walk into our locker room when you talk to everyone of those guys, they think we can beat Jordan.”
Although Cone wouldn’t go to specifics, it’s almost a foregone conclusion Gilas’ defensive strategy would cover a big percentage of Hollis-Jefferson’s offense.
“We’re gonna try to put a big performance together and go out and play Jordan,” he said.
PBA fans may well remember Hollis-Jefferson for snaring the Best Import award over Justin Brownlee in the Governors’ Cup last April, and for his 29 points, 14 rebounds and six assists performance as TNT beat Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in Game 6, 97-93, for the championship.
