AFTER a masterful Game 5 performance, RJ Abarrientos' name was for sure mentioned a lot of times in Rain or Shine’s scouting report.
It didn’t matter.
For the second straight game, Abarrientos put together another amazing performance, dropping 30 points as Ginebra took a 118-107 win over the Elasto Painters and advanced to the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals against the winner of the TNT-Meralco series.
READ: Ginebra back in PBA Finals after putting away ROS in six games
Coach Tim Cone knew Abarrientos was bound for another big game based on his sophomore guard’s demeanor entering this game.
“His determination was just amazing. You can see it. I saw it in the locker room before the game. I saw it today during our film meeting,” Cone said. “He just had it in his face, his body language that I knew he was going to come out and have a good game tonight.”
Cone has seen a lot of amazing playoff performances in his 37-year PBA career and this certainly belongs among the best of them.
Abarrientos, of course, was fresh off a 31 point night in Game 5 — and he did pretty much most of the same things to close out Rain or Shine.
The former PBA Rookie of the Year picked his defenders apart with his nifty ball-handling, explosive first step and lethal three-level scoring.
Rain or Shine did its part, shuffling defenders on him, trapping him off the pick and attacking him on the other end — but Abarrientos was simply too good.
“He put two back-to-back huge games and it’s tough to do that in the playoffs,” Cone said.
“They were targeting him, playing multiple players against him. Keeping fresh players, attacking him on the defensive side and they were doing everything they could to get him out of this game,” he added.
“His strength and character didn’t allow that.”
While his amazing ability to put the ball in the hoop will certainly be highlighted in this series, Abarrientos says his focus is entirely on being Ginebra’s lead guard — and he’s done an amazing job in it as well.
Putting up 31 and 30 in back-to-back games will certainly steal the headlines, but for Abarrientos, the other things that he’s doing should take a share of the spotlight as well.
Abarrientos thrived as a playmaker — averaging 7.5 assists per game in the final two games, while also being a pest on defense with 2.5 steals per game.
And it's not like he was chucking up shots either. While aggressive, Abarrientos has remained ultra-efficient for a guard, as he made 53.6 percent of his shots after making 22 of 41 attempts.
“I don’t care about my score, about my stats. Ang pinaka-focus ko dito yung pagiging leader as a guard, yung pagiging second coach sa loob ng court,” he said.
“Hindi ko tinitignan yun [yung score] basta alam ko mahaba ang minutes ko sa loob, I just do my thing para makapag-create para sa teammates ko,” Abarrientos said.
“Hindi lang sa points, sa steals, sa kung anong highlights na meron. I’m just doing my thing, makapag-screen kay JB, makapag-padala ng bola sa open na corner, yung maliliit na bagay, yun ang tinitignan ko sa team na’to.”
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