SAN Miguel Beer guards Juami Tiongson and Jericho Cruz harassed Ginebra prized rookie RJ Abarrientos to pick up the ball and force him to nearly go out of bounds from the right flank last Sunday night.
With the shot clock fast ticking, Abarrientos hoisted a high-looping four-pointer that swished—to the delight of the pro-Kings crowd and the agony of Tiongson and Cruz.
The 5-foot-11 pacesetter in this season’s Rookie of the Year award plum downplayed his Game 3 brilliance where he flirted with a triple-double of 24 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists as Ginebra downed the Beermen 100-90 to grab a 2-1 semifinals lead in the PBA Philippine Cup.
“Nakatulong sa akin iyong pag-motivate ng mga coaches. Lahat sila sinasabi sa akin, if I have shots, take it. Parang hindi nila ako pinipigilan,” Abarrientos said. “So nasa akin na iyon kung paano ko babasahin, paano ko i-re-read, at paano ko makikita iyong game kapag nasa akin ang bola.
“Iyong confidence hindi lang naman galing sa akin. Galing sa teammates ko, galing sa mga coaches na lagi nagre-remind sa akin na kumbaga just do your thing,” he added.
Kings coach Tim Cone does not doubt the team’s No. 3 pick overall in the last rookie draft and nephew of pro league great Johnny, has what it takes.
“I just believe that he’s just a great shooter and I know we look at his passing, he’s an absolute fantastic passing and his ball handling is great, he can tack people but for me what really makes him special is the ability to shoot the ball and so we always try to encourage him to shoot it,” Cone said. “If he’s open, we want him to shoot it. If he’s one for 11, we want him taking that next tough shot right after that.
“We know it’s going to turn around for him and he’s anything that’s open for him he’s going to knock down more times than not.”
His crucial explosion in the third game was simply due to his willingness to embrace the moment, according to Abarrientos.
“Gawin ko lang iyong dapat kong gawin para makatulong sa team,” he said. “So, siguro kine-keep ko lang iyon at niyakap ko lang, in-embrace ko lang iyong moments. Kaya iyon, nakuha ko siguro iyong game ko ngayong Game 3.”
