Coach Tim Cone and Japeth Aguilar talked concerning the occasions Barangay Ginebra figured in a basketball showdown on Christmas Day and each pointed to the Gin Kings’ conquest of Magnolia (then Star) eight years in the past because the match on high of their respective lists.
On Wednesday night time, rookie RJ Abarrientos and cornerstone Scottie Thompson turned in a efficiency that made the champion mentor and the membership fixture rethink.
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Wanting lifeless within 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 pores and skin of its enamel, 95-92, to cap off an electrical vacation doubleheader that additionally featured a younger Converge crushing Meralco at Good Araneta Coliseum.
“I used to be speaking, reminding Japeth of the sport we had at Philippine Enviornment on Christmas Day with Magnolia [where] Japeth hit 5 three-pointers. And we have been laughing about it and he goes, ‘That’s a sport I’ll always remember,’” Cone recalled shortly after the triumph that additionally put the group darlings again within the profitable column of the Commissioner’s Cup.
“I feel that is going to be one other one we’ll always remember,” he went on. “I do know RJ right here gained’t overlook it. Going towards [his uncle] Johnny, who is completely pricey to my coronary heart, after which making the large performs—the large comeback—after which having his kuya Scottie hit the large three-pointer.”
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Tenorio heroics
Abarrientos, the third total choose of the final draft, poured 17 of his 20 factors within the third to spur the Gin Kings again into the thick of issues. He had three steals, a block and 5 assists—the ultimate being the go that arrange Thompson for the killing blow from the left nook, paying homage to LA Tenorio’s game-winning triple that completed off the Hotshots in one other Christmas Day encounter 9 years earlier.
“It was designed for RJ to make the choice. We put the sport in RJ’s palms and he delivered with an ideal go to Scottie,” Cone mentioned. “RJ’s clearly really deserving tonight and, you recognize, simply the mantra of Ginebra’s ‘By no means Say Die.’ We don’t characterize it as a lot because the outdated ‘Jaworski Days,’ however we nonetheless really feel it and we nonetheless discuss it and it’s nonetheless a part of our tradition. So, tonight we lived as much as Sonny Jaworski and his crew.”
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“I used to be surprised by RJ. As quickly as I sat on the bench, he knocked down two [triples]. After I bought again he was simply laborious to cease as a result of he was already on a momentum. He’s a scoring machine and you can simply see he’s really a expertise,” Magnolia veteran Mark Barroca mentioned in Filipino. “In the event you can simply see his aura as quickly as he bought right into a rhythm, he turned so laborious to protect.”
“It hurts. As quickly as I noticed Scottie launch it, I believed to myself, every little thing’s precise. Then I noticed the clock at zero-zero, and the online simply moved,” he added. “However that’s simply the way in which it’s. If we’re going to surrender a shot, it was [Scottie’s] as a result of RJ and Justin (Brownlee) have been at it with the hand-offs.”
Thompson had 14 factors, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, whereas resident import Justin Brownlee was simply as key with 28, seven and 5 within the triumph that pushed the Gin Kings’ win-loss document to 4-2.
Cone mentioned that this is among the video games that will probably be talked about for a very long time, however it’s additionally one thing they needed to shortly overlook—particularly with the form of opponents mendacity in wait on the flip of the 12 months.
Ginebra will sort out one other company sibling on Jan. 5, league-leading NorthPort on Jan. 8, after which TNT, Rain or Shine and Meralco later that month.
“A memorable sport for all of us. We’re going to recollect this for some time, however like RJ mentioned, we bought to maneuver on. We bought San Miguel subsequent,” he mentioned. “It doesn’t get any simpler.”
