TIM Cone admitted pissing off RJ Abarrientos late in Game 1 of the PBA 50th Season Commissioner’s Cup finals, leading to the sophomore guard stepping up to the plate and delivering clutch plays in Barangay Ginebra’s 102-100 win over TNT Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
READ: Brownlee banks in winner as Ginebra beats TNT in Game 1 thriller
Cone apparently felt Abarrientos let Tropang 5G lead guard Rey Nambatac get into a rhythm in the final quarter that allowed the defending champions to crawl their way back from the depths of an 18-point deficit.
Nambatac scored 13 of his 19 points during that stretch, as TNT even took the lead, 95-90, with 3:06 remaining.
It was at that point that Abarrientos came alive and buried back-to-back four-point shots in the last 91 seconds to give the Gin Kings the lead for good, 100-97, as they ultimately won it, 102-100.
“Basically, that’s on me getting hard on a player and the player responding. And that’s the way it’s supposed to be,” said Cone of the slight clash he had with his star guard on the bench.
RJ shows the way
The Ginebra coach was then seen approaching Abarrientos after that second clutch four-point shot following a Tropang 5G timeout.
Asked what he told the nephew of deputy Johnny Abarrientos, Cone answered it was inconsequential.
“We were talking about the substitution down the stretch. Whether he was going to be substituted for defense,” he said.
“And I was just telling him we couldn’t do it earlier because we needed him on the offensive side, as well. So it wasn’t a big deal,” he added. “And it was just about substitution and Ralph [Cu] came in for him and played defense down the stretch.”
In all, Cone had nothing but praise for last season’s Rookie of the Year.
“You know RJ has tremendous character and no matter what, he keeps his calm. And he’s really good at moving on and taking what you’re saying and making something off it. And I thought he did a great job of figuring out down the stretch what they were doing and he responded,” he said.
“He’s just a clutch guy. I mean those two four-pointers were amazing shots.”
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