In between winning a grand slam, capturing 12 championships while playing for four different teams and becoming the smallest player to be named the Most Valuable Player, Johnny Abarrientos was also a solid defender at the guard position, which put him in the PBA’s All-Defensive Team five times.
Once he returns to Ginebra as a member and reunites with his old coach, Tim Cone, ‘The Flying A’ will relish the opportunity of working closely with his nephew, RJ Abarrientos, and the league’s future Hall of Famer already has in mind the assignment that needs to be done.
The elder Abarrientos wants to toughen up RJ defensively and plans to integrate to him a mentality that could somehow instill fear to the opposition each time he defends.
“He’s getting bullied (defensively),” Johnny told Pinoystep.com. “Alam kasi ng kalaban kung ano ang weakness ni RJ.”
In the next few days, Johnny will start working with Ginebra and he won’t be surprised if he’ll be tasked to spend extra hours in harnessing the defensive skills of RJ, a talented guard, who is likely to become the lead quarterback of Barangay Ginebra now that LA Tenorio has been shipped to Magnolia to assume the role as head coach.
“Hindi naman sa pagmamayabang, nung naglalaro tayo, yung mga kalaban nating player, napapanaginipan tayo,” said Johnny. “Hindi dahil sa iniiskoran mo sila o nilulusutan mo sila, but also because alam nila problema kaagad para sa kanila yung pagbaba ng bola.”
“Five times rin naman tayong member dyan (All-Defensive Team), so alam ng PBA, hindi tayo basta-basta lang sa depensa. Alam kong maliit ako kaya disadvantage na kaagad kaya sa backcourt pa lang, tinatrabaho ko na. Nung naglalaro ako, tapos kalaban kita, magdadalawang isip ka sa akin kung di-dribble ka ba ng harapan. Chances are, alam mong aagawan kita kaya bilang respeto, madalas, tumatalikod sila kapag nagdi-dribble na ako nagbabantay. Kung ikaw malaki, magdadalawang isip ka rin kung ibababa mo yung bola, dahil anytime, puwede kong agawin yan.”
Johnny doesn’t want RJ to be the same, but at least he wants his nephew to develop toughness on defense. When it comes to playing style, the PBA great who won a grand slam as a player of Alaska and another triple crown as an assistant coach of San Mig Coffee of the old Purefoods franchise, believes that he and RJ have different styles.
Instead, Johnny wants the younger Abarrientos to make his own mark.
“Si RJ kasi, shooter talaga yan, hindi yan point,” said the elder Abarrientos. “Kaso, maliit siya at mahihirapan naman siya kung isang position lang lalaruan niya. Baka hindi siya mabigyan ng magandang minutes kapag ganun. So we developed him, sinabihan naming mag-point guard nung nasa FEU pa lang siya.”
When RJ was playing for Gilas Pilipinas under then head coach Tab Baldwin, he plays the role as combo guard and that versatility is something he brought when he embarked a career playing overseas in the Korean Basketball League and the Japan B. League.
In the PBA, RJ knows he has to adapt more and under Cone, he needs to be more flexible.
“Bata pa naman si RJ, so puwedeng-puwede pang ma-develop. Dati nga hindi naman siya point guard, pero naturuan namin,” added Johnny. “Pero ang importante, ma-develop niya yung character on how to become a tough point guard, yung medyo katatakutan ka at hindi ka kayang i-bully. Hindi lang naman enforcer yung mga dapat katakutan. Yung mga magagaling na player, kinatatakutan din dahil sa skills nila and yun ang kailangan nating trabahuhin kay RJ. He needs to improve his defense.”
