ANTIPOLO — In the parlance of today’s youth, RJ Abarrientos got schooled.
Jayson Castro was his teacher.
The rookie playmaker could only concede after being outclassed by the sure-fire Hall of Famer, which played a major factor in TNT’s 114-88 rout of Ginebra to take Game 1 of the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals on Sunday.
“Marami pang kakaining bigas. Marami pang kulang,” Abarrientos told reporters moments after the lopsided match that was witnessed by 11,021 fans that filled the Ynares Center here – and all-time league attendance record in this venue.
The ‘Blur’ helped set the tone in the Tropang Giga’s second-half surge, scoring 12 of his 14 points in the third quarter. He took it upon himself to stabilize matters after the Kings retaliated from a slow 4-17 start into the match.
And much of those points came by exploiting his younger counterpart’s defense methodically – mostly by scheming to create the switch and make sure that the 25-year-old would be in front of him, then proceeding to attack.
“‘Yun nga, pinakita ni Kuya Jayson kung sino talaga ‘yung Jayson Castro na iniidolo ko,” said Abarrientos. “Nakita niyo naman paano ako atakihin kanina … Hats off kay Kuya Jayson. Sobrang galing talaga, sobrang bilis.”
Lessons were indeed aplenty for the third overall selection of the 2024 PBA Draft in his first taste of Finals action. And that, of course, included some from guarding the 38-year-old, although he feels honored at the same time.
“‘Yung pacing. ‘Yung bagal, bilis niya. Tsaka paano niya nagagawa ‘yun sa age niya?” the former Far Eastern University star said when asked about what has he picked up from his idol thus far after their first-ever matchup.
“Nakikita ko naman ‘yung Jayson Castro na kailangang higitan, or kailangang tapatan ng isang RJ. Sobrang thankful ako na nakalaban ko siya – dito pa sa Finals.”
Now, it will be all about rewatching this whole Game 1 heading into the next meeting on Wednesday for the much-needed adjustments especially for his part after finishing with just five points on 2-of-7 shooting from deep.
“Sabi ko lang kanina, kailangan ko lang din basahin or panoorin yung viewings, and then learn from it,” Abarrientos said. “For us naman sa huddle and sa dugout, we feel na andun pa rin ‘yung intensity for the next game.”
