Barangay Ginebra San Miguel import Riley Grigsby once again showed why the Ginebra faithful can depend on him, helping his squad foil a fourth-quarter comeback attempt by the Meralco Bolts last Friday en route to an 84-75 triumph.
As the Bolts chipped away at Ginebra’s lead and tried to mount one final push in the fourth period, Grigsby knocked down timely shots and came up with key defensive stops to seal the team’s second victory of the PBA Governors’ Cup.
Speaking with the media after the game, the 26-year-old said he had to “play smart” while battling the more experienced Antonio Hester and the rest of the veteran Meralco squad.
“I’m telling you, Antonio Hester is strong—he’s a strong dude, man,” Grigsby said. “But at that point, you gotta be in the right positioning when you guard these kinds of guys. Rebounding position, guys like that wanna seal you, so you gotta work early and be in front of them. Just playing smart, understanding the matchups,” he added.
In the win over Meralco, the Justin Brownlee replacement finished with 25 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks.
Meanwhile, his counterpart, Hester, scored 24 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the field while grabbing 18 rebounds to go along with 1 assist and 1 steal.
Grigsby on Getting the Right Matchups
In certain situations, Best Player of the Game RJ Abarrientos was forced to guard the 6-foot-5 Hester because of defensive switches. Recognizing the mismatch, Grigsby wanted to immediately get the right matchup by switching onto the veteran import himself.
“RJ [Abarrientos] was getting a switch on him, so we’re trying to get RJ off of him and switch me onto him to try to get the right matchup,” Grigsby explained.
True enough, for the majority of the game, Grigsby defended Hester one-on-one, limiting the Meralco reinforcement to several missed shot attempts.
As Ginebra gets one day of rest, Riley Grigsby will prepare for his first-ever Manila Clasico, where he will more than likely be matched up against fellow 26-year-old import KJ Buffen.
