Ailing Rondae Hollis-Jefferson still uncertain for TNT's PBA season opener

SANTA ROSA, Laguna -- The status of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for the TNT Tropang Giga’s opener this Sunday is still “iffy,” TNT head coach Jojo Lastimosa said.

Hollis-Jefferson did not suit up for the Tropang Giga Wednesday night when the team figured in an East Asia Basketball League duel with the Chiba Jets here.

Lastimosa told reporters after the game that the lefty import has gastroenteritis, and he was hospitalized.

“Rondae’s been sick for a while now, and he has been hospitalized. He has gastroenteritis. He went into IV and he was there for a couple of days in the hospital, dehydrated, and he’s so much better now,” the coach told reporters.

While he did not suit up, Hollis-Jefferson was at the bench wearing street clothes.

“It was something that we did not expect because Rondae attended our camp a couple of weeks back and he seemed okay, and all of a sudden everything turned for the worst,” he said.

This then puts his status for the team’s opening game against the Magnolia Hotshots on Sunday in jeopardy.

“It’s still iffy, we don’t know yet. But, we are actually bringing in a replacement already, in case he won’t be ready,” the coach bared.

“But we’re gonna wait for Rondae to get better and we don’t want to put him on the floor not close to 100% because it might harm him in the long run so we’re doing it conservatively, bringing in another guy so we can have an import on Sunday,” he added.

The replacement import is still not identified.

Lastimosa said that they would have wanted to tap Quincy Miller, who played as their import against Chiba on Wednesday.

Miller, however, revealed that he is still yet to be released by the Converge FiberXers.

“Quincy was supposed to be our number one option to be the replacement guy, but apparently his rights are still with Converge,” Lastimosa said.

“Converge still won’t release [me]. I don’t know why,” Miller continued.

Lastimosa, meanwhile, emphasized that the team is “in trouble” as they are still yet to win a game in the EASL after two outings.

He stressed that the team could not keep up with other teams with only just one import.

“The teams we're competing against have three or four imports. It is nice to have that kind