RJ Abarrientos did not appear relieved even after knocking down the last of two clutch four-pointers that ultimately helped Barangay Ginebra escape TNT in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals opener on Wednesday night.
The star guard covered his face out of disappointment before Coach Tim Cone was seen talking close to his ear as the Tropang 5G sued for time right after the 27-footer gave the crowd darlings the 100-97 lead with 20.4 seconds left.
“We were talking about substitution down the stretch, whether he was gonna be substituted for defense,” said the champion mentor as he recalled that particular situation shortly after their 102-100 victory at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“And I was just telling him that we couldn’t do it earlier because we needed him for the offensive side as well. It wasn’t a big deal,” he added.
“It was just about substitution. Ralph (Cu) came in for him and played defense down the stretch.”
Cu did sub in for him, but when asked for his side on the matter, the presumptive Best Player of the Conference said that his reaction was because of earlier instances, where he felt that he had committed lapses on defense.
(C) PBA Images
In fact, before drilling the four, he was late to react to stopping Roger Pogoy, who then blew by him and got fouled. The TNT star earned a trip to the free throw line and made both of his shots for the 97-96 lead with 41.3 seconds left.
But it’s not just that sequence that made Abarrientos hard on himself. He didn’t like the way he defended Rey Nambatac, who co-led the Tropang 5G’s furious fightback from down 64-46 by hitting big shots from deep.
The lefty guard actually hit a four and a triple midway into the deciding period, which gave the defending champions a 91-88 lead with 5:25 remaining.
“Nagalit si Coach Tim sa akin,” he said. “Yung depensa ko nung last two straight against Nambatac, sa Finals hindi puwedeng mangyari ‘yun.
“I need to be better, and I need to embrace that kasi lahat kami rito professional, lahat kami rito nagtatrabaho. I need to accept and learn from that.”
Still, he made up for those by coming through in the clutch, and although he was too critical of himself, Cone gave his prized ward his flowers.
“Basically, that was me getting hard on a player, and the player responded,” the league’s winningest bench tactician said. “And that’s the way it’s supposed to be. RJ has tremendous character. No matter what, he keeps his calm.
“And he’s really good at moving on and taking what you’re saying, and making something from it. I thought he did a great job of figuring out down the stretch what they were doing, and he responded,” he added.
“And he’s a clutch guy,” Cone continued, in awe of those long bombs that the 26-year-old unloaded.
“Those two four-pointers were amazing shots.”
