Brownlee, RHJ teamup at Meralco? Trillo hopes so
Plans of an unlikely alliance between Justin Brownlee and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson as Meralco’s reinforcements for the East Asia Super League generated quite a buzz on social media in recent days that even coach Luigi Trillo was quite thrilled about the possibility.
“Who wouldn’t want Justin and Rondae?” Trillo told The Inquirer when asked about reports that the Bolts may field the two great PBA imports for the international competition which starts in October.
A story that came out on Spin.ph detailed that San Miguel Corporation, through sports director Alfrancis Chua, broached the idea of allowing Brownlee to momentarily set aside his famous No. 32 Barangay Ginebra jersey to join the team he beat four times in the Finals.
And if that’s not enough, Hollis-Jefferson may follow suit and form a tag-team partnership with Brownlee, who the ex-NBA player defeated in all three of his championship runs for TNT.
Trillo neither confirmed or denied the potential team-up, but having both talents may give the Bolts a greater chance this time after falling short of making the Final Four in their two previous EASL campaigns.
“Those are probably two of the best imports the PBA has had in a very long while,” said Trillo. “Both are very high-level [players], and for them to [possibly] play together with us would be a welcome addition. At this point, it’s just ideas and I’m just reading about it as well.
“[But] if this is to happen, we really have to thank coach Alfrancis,” he added.
For now, Meralco has set a target date of Sept. 1 as the start of preparations for both the PBA season and the EASL, with concrete plans to be determined in the days that followed.
“We will have to discuss with [Meralco active consultant Nenad Vucinic] and our [team manager Paolo Trillo] for that to transpire and materialize,” said Trillo.
The PBA tapped Meralco to be its lone representative despite failing to win a title in any of the three conferences last season. The EASL usually invites the champions and or runner-ups from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Meralco is in Group B with B.League finalist Ryukyu Golden Kings, Taiwan’s P.League+ champion Taoyuan Pilots and the Macau Black Bears, with the Bolts seeking a top two finish in order to join the six-team playoffs in March.
“We want to do well in EASL and we are honored to be representing the PBA again for the third year,” said Trillo. “We know how competitive EASL is as you have to be a champion or a finalist to qualify. So to still be invited and EASL wanting us to partake in the tournament is a recognition of our ballclub’s solid reputation and growth which we are proud of.”
