Returning Philippine Basketball Association import Quincy Miller is adjusting well with the system of champion coach/manager Jojo Lastimosa at TNT.
Miller, who had an impressive campaign last season with Converge but had a falling out with his former coach Aldin Ayo, wants to redeem himself as the reinforcement of the Tropang Giga, the reigning Governors’ Cup champions.
A dead shot big man, Miller is going to join forces with his fellow National Basketball Association veteran Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Jordan national team’s naturalized player, who led the Tropang Giga in winning the championship of the season-ending tournament.
Hollis-Jefferson emerged not only as the Best Import, but was mainly responsible in dealing Justin Brownlee of Ginebra his first finals loss while also dethroning the Gin Kings.
Miller and Hollis-Jefferson will test their partnership when TNT takes part in the East Asia Super League, which begins less than a week from now.
TNT and Meralco, which takes over the spot of Barangay Ginebra, will represent the PBA in this first home-and-away tournament that will be played for five months.
“He’s been here since September 14, so he’s slowly getting the hang of it,” Lastimosa wrote in a Viber message to DAILY TRIBUNE. “He will be our interior defender and floor spacer while RHJ will continue to do everything else.”
Hollis-Jefferson will rejoin TNT right after his campaign in the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
He is currently playing in the semifinal round and looking to help Jordan advance to the gold medal match against Chinese Taipei that is being played as of press time.
Miller’s involvement with TNT will be purely EASL, which will open ahead of the PBA’s new season.
The EASL starts 11 October while the PBA opens the Commissioner’s Cup on 5 November and it’s really important to have Miller on board right away.
Last season, Miller averaged 29.9 points, 15.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.9 steals and 2.9 blocks in 13 games he saw action for the FiberXers before they got eliminated by the Gin Kings in the quarterfinals of the Commissioner’s Cup.
