Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has decided the type of player he is going to be in the NBA. He was flirting with trying to be a scorer for a bit there in Brooklyn, taking jumpers and generally being aggressive (-ish) looking for his shot.
But with a jumper as borked as his is, he’s basically never going to be a real scorer. Perhaps a string of DNPs to start the season made him realize this, because he has basically removed the midrange aspect of his game (rims all across the nation are giving thanks right now). He’s always been a nice rebounder for a 6’6″ dude, but he has turned that part of his game up to 11, constantly going in there and going for offensive rebounds. The offensive rebounding is just a side affect of him constantly hustling, always going for the ball, no matter the circumstance. He doesn’t want the ball to score it, he just wants it.
As Raptors legend Hedo Turkoglu once said: “Ball”.
Hollis-Jefferson’s tenacity was a big part of the Raptors’ gigantic comeback tonight. When he made that free-throw that bounced straight up about 7 feet and then dropped right back in, followed up with a dramatic celebration, that was when the Mavericks knew they were sunk.