Tim Cone has seen it all. So, if he says he’s impressed with RJ Abarrientos dropping 30 in a closeout game, that speaks volumes.
And that’s exactly how Abarrientos left his coach—impressed.
“I’m just really impressed,” Cone said of his sophomore sensation after Ginebra closed out the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Sunday with a hard-earned 118-107 victory that sent the Gin Kings to the Finals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
It turns out, Cone seemed to expect another huge game from the tournament’s leading scorer.
“You could see it. I saw it in the locker room before the game. I could see it even yesterday during our film meeting,” Cone admitted. “He just had it on his face and his body language that he was going to come out and have a big game tonight.”
RJ Abarrientos Couldn’t Be Stopped
Abarrientos did put up a big game on Sunday, firing 30 points on four triples to go along with his 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals. It was his second straight 30-piece, and both came after the reigning Rookie of the Year was limited to just 8 markers in Game 4—the first time he had been held below double digits.
“He put two back-to-back huge games, and that’s really difficult in the playoffs to be able to do that,” Cone pointed out. “They were targeting him, playing multiple players against him, keeping fresh players, attacking him on the defensive side. They were doing everything they could to get him out of his game. And just that strength of character didn’t allow that. He stayed within himself and really won the game for the team.”
Cone is right. Yeng Guiao sent wave after wave of defenders at Abarrientos. He used a lot of Joshua David, who was chiefly responsible for holding the former KBL star to single digits in Game 4. He put Gian Mamuyac. He tried Anton Asistio and Andrei Caracut.
Nothing worked—not in Game 5, not in Game 6.
So, forgive Cone if he’s impressed.
