THE possibility that RJ Abarrientos might play for Gilas Pilipinas in the future was one topic that was raised after the player was picked by Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Season 49 Draft last Sunday.
This was because Abarrientos will now be playing for Gilas coach Tim Cone, who nearly has total say on who would play for the national team.
Abarrientos, 24, played for the national team under head coach Tab Baldwin where he saw action in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia in 2021, averaging 7.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists.
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Abarrientos also played in a pair of games with Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers in February 2022 and the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup in Jakarta, both under Chot Reyes.
When asked during the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) press conference on Monday, Cone said Abarrientos, who played overseas the past two years, is not under consideration at the moment, but that may happen in the future.
“That’s a long ways away right now,” said Cone on Monday, the day after Barangay Ginebra selected Abarrientos at No. 3 in the draft.
“Again, he is a young guy. Could be three, four years from now, you don’t know what the team is going to be. But I keep emphasizing, every time you put somebody in on a team, (like RJ), you have to take somebody out.”
Cone, however, said the 5-foot-10 Abarrientos could be considered down the road because he soon will play Ginebra’s triangle offense which is the national team's mode of play in international meets.
Cone said the familiarity to the triangle offense was the reason why Japeth Aguilar was inserted in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament since teaching him the system would be minimal to none.
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“He might be an exception,” said Cone of Abarrientos. “But generally, that’s one of the reasons why Japeth was the guy that stepped in for us aside from his size and athleticism, he also knows our system really well.”
For now, though, Cone will be sticking with the compact pool.
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