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| Rondae Hollis-Jefferson suddenly went to the Rain Or Shine bench and even had a verbal tussle with coach Yeng Guiao. Joseph Sanvictores |
QUEZON CITY--Rondae Hollis-Jefferson stole the show in the Rain Or Shine-TNT game on Friday night in the PBA Commissioner's Cup... as a spectator.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who was replaced by his older brother Rahlir as the Tropang Giga's PBA import this conference due to a neck injury he suffered during their EASL game against the Taipei Fubon Braves on Dec. 20, suddenly went to the Elasto Painters bench while Tree Treadwell was shooting his free throws off a Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson foul with 49 seconds left.
All of a sudden, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who has been known to be calm and collected, was livid and apparently got into a heated exchange with ROS coach Yeng Guiao before Poy Erram, RR Pogoy, Paul Varilla, and some bouncers at the Smart Araneta Coliseum escorted Hollis-Jefferson back to the arena's hallway.
Asked about the incident, Guiao said that Hollis-Jefferson's action was uncalled for.
"We were surprised he was behind our bench," Guiao said.
"That's totally disrespectful, and nobody does that. You go to the bench of the other team. I don't know what he was doing there."
Guiao, who has been known to be a feisty coach, added that he could not remember a certain moment during his long coaching career when an opponent suddenly charged to his team's bench and hurled choice words.
Still, according to Guiao, Hollis-Jefferson should have respected everyone on the Elasto Painters bench as well as those behind it.
"That's our area, and it's not just behind our bench. We had staff behind our bench," Guiao further said.
"That's a dangerous thing to pull, and hindi ko alam kung anong nangyari sa kanya. Tinopak yung g***. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang ginagawa noon."
Tree Treadwell gives pep talk to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson after charging to ROS bench
Moments later, Treadwell was seen exchanging words with Hollis-Jefferson right below the backboard near the TNT bench while Andrei Caracut was making his own charities.
However, Treadwell said that it was just a friendly talk telling Hollis-Jefferson to stay calm.
"I've known Rondae for years. We've been playing professional basketball. We see each other from country to country, so I know him. He's kind of a friend and a peer of mine, so I'm just telling him to keep his head and be smart and professional," Treadwell said.
Hollis-Jefferson was apparently in protest after his brother was called for a foul while trying to block Treadwell's dunk attempt.
While replays showed that Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had a basis for his argument, the Tropang Giga already used their maximum of two challenges in the game and could not call anymore for another one, and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson was even called for a technical foul for his resentment to the foul call.
In the end, the Elasto Painters prevailed over the Tropang Giga, 119-112, for their fifth straight win.
As confirmed by PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon, ROS booked a place in the quarterfinals with the victory while knocking Terrafirma out of playoff contention, leaving only TNT and NLEX to dispute the last quarterfinal spot.
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