Youthful Barangay Ginebra guard RJ Abarrientos is living up to his storied family name.
When the Kings needed to regain their lost pride following a humiliating 49-point defeat to San Miguel Beer, Abarrientos stepped on the plate and delivered a performance to remember.
The rookie embraced his role as a sparkplug off the bench when he took the helm on offense in Ginebra’s 112-96 rebound win over Phoenix in Group B of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup Wednesday night.
Abarrientos showed flashes of brilliance reminiscent of his celebrated uncle, decorated PBA legend Johnny Abarrientos.
The young Abarrientos led Ginebra’s balanced scoring as he scattered a game-high 24 points on 8-of-15 field goal shooting all while dishing out five assists and hauling five rebounds in 31 minutes of action.
“I’m just doing the right thing coming from the bench. We need an energy type of player. I can adjust to whatever role the coaches and teammates want me to play,” the Far Eastern University product said.
Abarrientos played like an artist creating a masterpiece with the Ninoy Aquino Stadium as his canvas in the Kings’ wire-to-wire domination of the also-ran Fuel Masters.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who was also Johnny Abarrientos’ mentor during his heydays with Alaska, lauded the third overall pick in the last Draft.
“I’m just really proud of him. He’s really gabbing hold of that role coming off the bench,” he said.
Cone was not surprised at all by what Abarrientos brings to the table.
“RJ, he’s not a rookie in a real sense because he’s played around. He’s been in Korea. He’s been in Japan. He’s played high-level basketball already. This is nothing new to him,” the multi-titled mentor said.
“In fact, he’s quickly becoming one of our role models already. He’s modeling for the rest of the players as well. He plays like a vet. he doesn’t play like a young player.”
Abarrientos’ performance and the response of Ginebra painted over the bitter memory of the franchise’s worst defeat — an 82-131 whipping at the hands of the Beermen last Sunday.
“For us, players, we just moved on from that loss. I’m not saying that we’re not taking that 49-point loss to San Miguel seriously but for me, we just have to forget that and move on,” he said.
With a 6-3 win-loss record, the Gin Kings are already assured of a spot in the best-of-five quarterfinals along with Rain or Shine and San Miguel.
Ginebra will close its elimination round campaign against NLEX on Sunday.
Abarrientos is looking forward to using that to improve and prepare for the even bigger battles ahead.
“We’re heading into the playoffs, so we need to be deep in the first five and from the bench,” he said.
“I have to learn to be that 101 percent energy guy coming off the bench.”