RJ Abarrientos may not be big on titles, but it’s getting more and more apparent that this Barangay Ginebra squad is now his.
Just ask his backcourt partner and former PBA MVP Scottie Thompson.
As Ginebra hunts for its first championship since winning the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner’s Cup against the Bay Area Dragons, Thompson believes Abarrientos is primed to take the next step that would complete the transition for the fan favorites.
READ C-Mac vows a 'PBA Finals to remember' against JB, Ginebra
While most of the key figures from that last Ginebra championship squad are now gone like Finals MVP Christian Standhardinger, veteran guards LA Tenorio and Stanley Pringle, and the high-flying Jamie Malonzo, Thompson is confident that they’re slowly building a championship squad once more – this time built around the brilliant sophomore.
“Throughout the years nage-evolve at nagttransform yung team. Of course, there are a lot of new faces coming in, in and out and of course it’s a different talent that we have right now, so naiiba talaga, but the system is the same, the culture ng Ginebra na pinapagawa samin ni coach Tim [Cone], same naman,” Thompson told SPIN.ph.
“Malaking bagay lang kasi andaming talents na bago na talagang nakaka-lift sa team, especially with RJ right now. Yung core na to around RJ, na-bubuild na yung chemistry around sa kanya.”
Eyebrows were raised when Ginebra decided to trade the proven and tested veteran tandem of Standhardinger and Pringle for Isaac Go, Stephen Holt and a pick swap for Terrafirma’s third overall pick which turned out to be Abarrientos.
And fans’ worries weren’t necessarily quelled as Ginebra have not won another title since that trade – losing twice in the PBA Finals to TNT last season with Abarrientos showing glimpses of greatness, alongside some moments of bad decision making that's expected of rookies.
This season, though, that trade is starting to make more and more sense.
Abarrientos has emerged as a Best Player of the Conference favorite just two years into his PBA career, and he backed it up with consecutive masterful performances to close out Rain or Shine, starting with a 31-point, 8-assist, 3-steal night in Game 5 before following it up with 30 points, seven assists and two steals in Game 6.
And for Thompson, he’s not really surprised. Abarrientos’ performance right now is exactly what they expected when Ginebra decided to move up the draft to get him.
“We all know how talented RJ is. He came in with international experience, yun nga, as a rookie noon siyempre nag-aadjust pa siya pero hindi naman dahil sa laro niya but naga-adjust siya with the system that we have,” Thompson said.
While the former FEU star played down his emergence to him just simply doing his ‘role’ as the team’s lead guard, Thompson sees it as Abarrientos finally embracing the role that was always destined to be his – the next guy that will lead the fan favorites to the Promised Land.
“Right now gamay na niya, gamay na niya 'yung strength ng team kaya sobrang ganda ng nilalaro niya ngayon,” Thompson said. “Sana mag-tuloy tuloy hanggang finals kasi sa'min even as veterans nagre-rely kami sa leadership at talent niya para mabigyan kami ng another championship.”
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