Ginebra guard RJ Abarrientos received a tongue-lashing from head coach Tim Cone during TNT’s dangerous run down the stretch.
He responded with the kind of response every mentor wants from a player.
Abarrientos made amends for his defensive lapses by burying crucial back-to-back four-pointers in the thrilling closing junction of the Kings’ 102-100 Game 1 escape over the defending champions Tropang 5G in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup finals Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Cone was livid after Rey Nambatac, who was Abarrientos’ primary defensive assignment, went on a rampage and scored 13 of his 19 points in TNT’s run that got it out of an 18-point hole.
The Tropang 5G even went up, 95-90, with over three minutes left in the opener of the best-of-seven series.
Abarrientos answered with consecutive four-pointers in an 8-2 Ginebra counter for a 100-97 lead with 20 seconds left. TNT knotted the count on a RR Pogoy trey before Kings resident import Justin Brownlee hit the game-winning Bankshot jumper with 0.6 seconds.
“Basically, that was me getting hard on a player and the player responding. That’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Cone said.
Abarrientos understood where Cone was coming from and just did his job as a professional.
“Coach Tim was mad at me. He’s pissed off. My defense on Nambatac in two straight plays… that can’t happen in the finals,” the sophomore said.
“So, I need to be better on that. I need to embrace that because we’re all professionals here. We all work here. So, I need to accept that and learn to move on,” he added.
Abarrientos finished his night with 24 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, including 2-of-3 from the four-point area.
He added seven assists, three rebounds and two steals in more than 38 minutes of play.
“RJ has tremendous character. No matter what, he keeps his calm. He’s really good at moving on and taking what you’re saying and making something from it,” Cone said.