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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Little push from Cone lit the fire in hot-shooting Abarrientos

Little push from Cone lit the fire in hot-shooting Abarrientos

Published Dec 26, 2025 01:18 pm

At A Glance

  • RJ Abarrientos needed a push from Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone to finally get going and help his team stay alive in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup.
RJ Abarrientos needed a push from Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone to finally get going and help his team stay alive in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup.
The Kings staved off elimination and forced a winner-take-all against the twice-to-beat Converge FiberXers after a 105-85 victory in Game 1 of their quarterfinals series.
And it happened all because of the huge second half explosion of Abarrientos.
“He's got that capability,” Cone said of Abarrientos who fired a career-high 35 points built on six triples.
“We all know that and we've seen it in the past. He can get going almost Steph Curry-like, where, you know, he can just find an area that's open on the floor and throw it up there and it's going to go in. And he came up with it,” commented the veteran mentor.
But Cone added he still had to remind Abarrientos to take his shots and not get too focused on facilitating the offense for the team.
“I actually complained to him a little bit in the middle of the second quarter, early in the second quarter. I told him he wasn't looking for a shot enough. He was passing the ball and I said he needed to look for a shot more,” recalled Cone.
“I had the same problem with him often that I do with his uncle, Johnny, in the past. They want to be point guards. They want to be pure point guards. And both of them are really capable scorers and they kind of forget that part of the game sometimes,” he added.
Everything simply opened up for the Kings when Abarrientos took over as the shifty playmaker fired 30 of his total in the second half.
“I'm just playing the game and then just reading the game, kung ano yung mga binibigay sa akin ng defense. And I remember the first half earlier, coach Tim went to me and said, ‘I'm not looking for my shot and I'm not aggressive’,” said Abarrientos.
“I keep reminding myself na hindi pwedeng hindi ako gumalaw or hindi ako makapag-contribute sa team kasi kami-kami lang naman ang inaasahan dito. So I'm very happy and thankful sa mga coaches,” he added.
Ginebra, however, needs another such game for Abarrientos on Sunday, Dec. 28 if it wishes to advance to the quarterfinals.
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