Big man Kemark Cariño rarely plays for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. On Friday, he finally did, and his 13-minute stint in the barangay’s 115-85 dismantling of the Blackwater Bossing could be the big break he’s been working so hard for.
Cariño was inserted at the midway point of the third quarter with Ginebra up, 82-52. Then, in 13 minutes, 32 seconds of burn, the 28-year-old beanpole tallied 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting on top of 7 rebounds and 1 block. He also helped make sure the Bossing wouldn’t make a run that would force Tim Cone to send his starters back.
Kemark Cariño Earned His Minutes With Hard Work
After the game, Kemark Cariño was naturally all smiles but deflected credit for what is so far his best showing for the PBA’s most popular team. Instead, the soft-spoken big man is just happy that he is earning the trust of the winningest coach in local hoops through sheer hard work.
“Sa akin naman, ready naman ako every time. Syempre, kailangan ko rin i-earn yung minutes na binigay sa ’kin ni Coach Tim, and kailangan ko rin ibalik yung trust na binigay nila sa akin na makapaglaro ulit,” Cariño told reporters in a scrum at the hallways of the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Crucially, the one-time Terrafirma Dyip already knew—and embraced with open arms, evidently—that minutes would be hard to come by at Ginebra given Cone’s notoriously short rotations.
“Mula naman nalipat ako ng Ginebra, alam ko na short rotation lang si Coach Tim, so sabi ko mag-ready lang ako every day, every time. Syempre, kailangan ko rin pagtrabahuhan sa practice,” he added.
Tim Cone Heaps Praise on Kemark Cariño
The goal, obviously, is for Kemark Cariño to steadily earn more minutes. And he might have taken a step in that direction on Friday as Cone gave his big man some lofty praise.
“I thought Kemark came out and played really well, doing a lot of Japeth [Aguilar] things. That’s what we’re looking for from him,” Cone said in the postgame presser.
The undergoal stabs. The rebounding. The interior defense. Those were the “Japeth things” Kemark Cariño did in his 13 minutes or so against the Bossing. In other words, he proved he can do the things Cone and Ginebra are looking for.
Now, it’s on Cone if he will give his big man more minutes.
