Jayson Castro has clearly gotten the best of RJ Abarrientos in the ongoing PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals between TNT and Barangay Ginebra.
Yet there remains the mutual respect between the two generations of playmakers, with the Tropang Giga star himself admitting that he is, in fact, a huge fan of the Kings’ celebrated rookie, who’s 13 years younger than him.
“‘Di niyo natatanong, sobrang gustong-gusto ko siya maglaro,” he said after their 96-84 Game 2 win at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, Wednesday night.
Castro has been one of the more important figures in this particular best-of-seven series. And it all began in Game 1 last Sunday in Antipolo, which saw the decorated guard take Abarrientos to school with a vintage outing.
By targeting the neophyte’s defense, the 38-year-old scored 12 of his points in the third quarter alone to help set the tone in their 104-88 victory.
He only scored nine points the following match but laced it with three rebounds, seven assists and one block in the 26 minutes and 29 seconds of play.
That lone block of his, you wonder, came at the expense of Abarrientos, when he swatted away the latter’s three-point attempt late in the third.
Abarrientos has so far scored a total of 12 points in the title bout’s first two games on a combined 3-of-15 shooting from the field. He’s been struggling to regain the kind of flow he had back in the semis against San Miguel Beer.
In all fairness, he’s already anticipated a tough challenge to come his way against the defending champions, especially from one of his idols in ‘The Blur.’
Abarrientos could only concede to how good his childhood hero is.
“Marami pang kakaining bigas,” he said in a previous interview. “Marami pang kulang.”
Still, Castro continues to admire the kind of player Abarrientos is, who, like the sure-fire Hall of Famer, is also the third overall selection of his class.
So much so that he believes the former Far Eastern University star is having a better rookie year as compared to his over 15 years ago.
“Mas magaling siya sa akin,” said Castro, who was picked after Gabe Norwood and Jared Dillinger in the 2008 Rookie Draft.
“Kasi kung makita niyo ‘yung rookie year ko tsaka rookie year niya, mas high-level ‘yung pagka-rookie niya.
“Given na ‘yun kasi nakita naman natin si RJ sobrang galing talaga, hindi lang dito pati sa Korea. Siya pa nga ‘yung naging Rookie of the Year, ‘di ba?” the two-time Asia’s Best Point Guard awardee added.
Give Abarrientos a few more years and he could be one of the best in his position, offered Castro as he has that much faith in him.
“For sure maraming pahihirapan ‘yung bata na ‘yun,” he said. “After two to three years makikita natin kung paano niya i-dominate ‘yung guard position.”
