A GIFT FIT FOR KINGS
Coach Tim Cone and Japeth Aguilar talked about the times Barangay Ginebra figured in a basketball showdown on Christmas Day and both pointed to the Gin Kings’ conquest of Magnolia (then Star) eight years ago as the match on top of their respective lists.
On Wednesday night, rookie RJ Abarrientos and cornerstone Scottie Thompson turned in a performance that made the champion mentor and the club fixture reconsider.
Looking dead in the water and staring from holes as deep as 22, the Gin Kings, behind the spirited playmaking of Abarrientos and the audacious buzzer-beating triple of Thompson, escaped Magnolia by the skin of its teeth, 95-92, to cap off an electric holiday doubleheader that also featured a young Converge crushing Meralco at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“I was talking, reminding Japeth of the game we had at Philippine Arena on Christmas Day with Magnolia [where] Japeth hit five three-pointers. And we were laughing about it and he goes, ‘That’s a game I’ll never forget,’” Cone recalled shortly after the triumph that also put the crowd darlings back in the winning column of the Commissioner’s Cup.
“I think this is going to be another one we’ll never forget,” he went on. “I know RJ here won’t forget it. Going against [his uncle] Johnny, who is absolutely dear to my heart, and then making the big plays—the big comeback—and then having his kuya Scottie hit the big three-pointer.”
Tenorio heroics
Abarrientos, the third overall pick of the last draft, poured 17 of his 20 points in the third to spur the Gin Kings back into the thick of things. He had three steals, a block and five assists—the final being the pass that set up Thompson for the killing blow from the left corner, reminiscent of LA Tenorio’s game-winning triple that finished off the Hotshots in another Christmas Day encounter nine years earlier.
“It was designed for RJ to make the decision. We put the game in RJ’s hands and he delivered with a great pass to Scottie,” Cone said. “RJ’s obviously truly deserving tonight and, you know, just the mantra of Ginebra’s ‘Never Say Die.’ We don’t represent it as much as the old ‘Jaworski Days,’ but we still feel it and we still talk about it and it’s still part of our culture. So, tonight we lived up to Sonny Jaworski and his crew.”
Beermen next
“I was stunned by RJ. As soon as I sat on the bench, he knocked down two [triples]. When I got back he was just hard to stop because he was already on a momentum. He’s a scoring machine and you could just see he’s truly a talent,” Magnolia veteran Mark Barroca said in Filipino. “If you can just see his aura as soon as he got into a rhythm, he became so hard to guard.”
“It hurts. As soon as I saw Scottie launch it, I thought to myself, everything’s exact. Then I saw the clock at zero-zero, and the net just moved,” he added. “But that’s just the way it is. If we’re going to give up a shot, it was [Scottie’s] because RJ and Justin (Brownlee) were at it with the hand-offs.”
Thompson had 14 points, five rebounds and six assists, while resident import Justin Brownlee was just as key with 28, seven and five in the triumph that pushed the Gin Kings’ win-loss record to 4-2.
Cone said that this is one of the games that will be talked about for a long time, but it’s also something they had to quickly forget—especially with the kind of opponents lying in wait at the turn of the year.
Ginebra will tackle another corporate sibling on Jan. 5, league-leading NorthPort on Jan. 8, and then TNT, Rain or Shine and Meralco later that month.
“A memorable game for all of us. We’re going to remember this for a while, but like RJ said, we got to move on. We got San Miguel next,” he said. “It doesn’t get any easier.”
