RJ Abarrientos may have long imagined a dream PBA debut that he wanted to showcase and yet he ended up bungling his first game with only two points to show on a poor 1-of-15 shooting in the field.

In his second game, he threw everything out of the window and mindlessly just did what he does best: putting the ball on the floor and into the hoop. He ended up performing way better with 13 points spiked by three triples.

Perhaps with the expectations getting the better of him on his debut, the 26-year-old Abarrientos has finally settled down and shook off the jitters to help Barangay Ginebra pick up a 108-102 victory over San Miguel for its first win of the season.

Asked what changed, the answer was simple for Abarrientos: He just stopped overthinking.

“Siguro di na lang ako masyado nagisip, gusto ko lang din makatulong sa team na makuha yung first win namin. Very crucial for us and for me especially galing rin ako ng bad game,” said Abarrientos after the game.

“Marami lang siguro akong inisip nung first game na dapat gawin ko ito, kailangan gawin ko ito so medyo naging loaded yung isip ko nung game na iyon,” he admitted.

Although not making an excuse, it also didn’t help Abarrientos that his first game was in an out-of-town, hence, he was more eager to show off.

“Yung first game ko pa out of town hindi dito sa Araneta and hindi sa MOA or kung saan man na malapit dito sa atin. Ayun marami lang akong inisip yun lang yung tinaganggal ko ngayon,” he added.

When he settled down, Abarrientos looked way different on the court as he immediately dropped two long bombs in the opening frame against SMB after missing all of his eight attempts in his first game.

While Abarrientos 'shooting was not still as efficient as it used to be, it was still a huge improvement all around as he also made great plays for the team particularly during that second half run.

“I’m very happy na nakatulong ako sa team di lang sa offense, pati sa defense sa ibang maliliit na bagay na wala sa stats,” said Abarrientos who had a highlight alley-oop pass to Japeth Aguilar to trigger a massive run in the final frame.

Abarrientos also thanked the coaches for encouraging him to play his game all through the slump.

“Si coach O (Olsen Racela) lang rin nagsabi sa akin na tira mo lang gawin mo lang yung game mo. Wag ka masyado magisip alam namin na galing ka sa international, galing ka sa pro. So nagpapasalamat ako sa coaches kasi hinayaan lang nila ako maglaro  especially kuya LA (Tenorio),” he added