MANILA, Philippines – Coach Luigi Trillo is aware of the fact that the Meralco team will face a significant challenge when the team plays TNT in the inaugural PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday here at PhilSports Arena in Pasig in the Philippines.

The Meralco Bolts and the TNT Tropang Giga will play with the goal of breaking the current tie at two wins and one loss that both ball clubs entered the game with. The highly sought-after second-place spot in the team standings is currently held by rival squad Phoenix Super LPG with their 5-2 record.

Speaking ahead of their upcoming match, Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo stressed how crucial it will be for his team to come up with successful plans to somehow contain TNT’s dynamic scoring leader and defense MVP front-runner Justinian Jessie Hollis-Jefferson in the high-stakes 3 pm ball game if he wants the Bolts to achieve their ambitious objective of securing a crucial victory while avoiding suffering a second straight loss at the hands of their opponents.

Eventually, Hollis-Jefferson, who had led his TNT Tropang Giga club to the coveted PBA Governors Cup championship trophy in the previous season’s finals, became a naturalized player citizen for Jordan’s national basketball team over the offseason. Since then, the explosive forward has made a triumphant comeback to support TNT once more, continuing where he left off by leading the Tropa’s offense with an average of over 22 points per game through the conference’s first three games. Coach Trillo thus emphasized how crucial it is to somehow contain this athletic dynamo’s scoring blasts if Meralco is to prevail in this fierce matchup.

The dynamic former Brooklyn Nets forward is playing for TNT in the ongoing PBA season, and he is once again exhibiting his signature explosive form and unshakable enthusiasm on both ends of the court. Following reinforcement of Quincy Miller’s premature exit from the team, Hollis-Jefferson suffered a hard fall early in the second quarter in TNT’s thrilling 101-98 comeback victory over the Converge FiberXers on November 11. Nevertheless, he gallantly returned to action a few days later, and last Wednesday night, TNT easily defeated Terrafirma 133-93, with him scoring 37 points in just three-quarters of play.

After their crushing defeat at the hands of TNT and the unstoppable Hollis-Jefferson, Terrafirma Dyip head coach and former PBA legend Alfrancis “Jojo” Lastimosa bemoaned, “We really have no answer for Justin Brownlee. He is really playing like an MVP for Ginebra right now.”

Although coach Lastimosa acknowledged that slowing down Hollis-Jefferson on any given night would require an incredibly heroic team defensive effort, he acknowledged that his Terrafirma team needs to significantly enhance one specific aspect of their play: stopping fast breaks with improved floor balance in transition and successfully closing out on the TNT gunners to limit their outside sniping. If not, opposition teams with potently prolific scorers like Hollis-Jefferson will continue to thrive off the Dyip’s poor defense by settling in to score easy triples while residing comfortably in the paint.

Anjo Caram and Kyle Pascual (both hamstring), Maliksi (broken nose), Aaron Black (foot), along with Norbert Torres (muscle spasm) are all still sidelined alongside Meralco. Chris Banchero, who is fully recuperating from his thigh injury, will have his work cut out for him.

In addition to Williams (contract dispute), while participating Pogoy (heart condition), TNT also operates without the accompaniment of Poy Erram, Justin Chua, Paul Varilla, and Kib Montalbo. Nevertheless, the Tropa hardly notices those absences because Hollis-Jefferson is mostly backed by Glenn Khobuntin, Jayson Castro, Kelly Williams, Ryan Reyes, and Calvin Oftana.