It was a reunion of sorts when two young players, who switched places early in the conference, went up against their former teams on Sunday, Nov. 27.
Both Ginebra’s Jamie Malonzo and NorthPort’s Arvin Tolentino didn’t hide that there was a little bit of extra push in them facing their former teams and that translated to their respective performances on the floor.
Tolentino led the way for the Batang Pier with 24 points on a 6-of-9 clip from deep while Malonzo put up his best game in Kings uniform and finished with 26 points – 10 of which came in the fourth quarter breakaway that allowed Ginebra to take full control of the contest.
“I think normal naman sa player na you get traded tapos facing your former team talagang motivated ka to really play well and to enjoy the game but syempre instinct na ng mga player actually sobrang excited ako to play this game,” said Tolentino who played for Ginebra in his first two years in the league.
“I think I have a little more motivation in this game. Those are familiar faces. I just want to show a little bit of something to my old friends, old coaches, old management. Little extra motivation,” said Malonzo, who was drafted by the Batang Pier second overall in the 2020 rookie draft
Even Ginebra head coach Tim Cone pointed out the extra fire in the eyes of the players, especially that aside from Tolentino, Jeff Chan and Prince Caperal were also part of the Malonzo-Tolentino deal prior to the conference while players like Kevin Ferrer and Paolo Taha at some point in the past also played for the Kings.
“That’s such a natural thing for a player. And I tell you, look at Arvin, look at the way Arvin played. Arvin was unbelievable tonight. And we got eight guys on the other side that played for us. And they were motivated, no doubt about it and we just kinda outlasted them but that is a natural thing,” Cone commented.
Nonetheless, it was all good game for Tolentino who after the contest was greeted by Ginebra pals Aljun Mariano and Scottie Thompson.
“Enjoy naman although di kami nanalo. Masarap din sa feeling kasi ngayon ko lang uli sila nakasama sa court pero ngayon magkalaban na kami. Enjoy naman may kaunting kulitan,” he added.