MANILA, Philippines – The path to a Gilas Pilipinas return looks to have been paved for RJ Abarrientos after national team head coach Tim Cone drafted him at Barangay Ginebra.
Cone sees Abarrientos being in a “class by himself” – exactly the reason why the Gin Kings made him the No. 3 overall pick in the PBA Rookie Draft.
But Abarrientos’ national team comeback may have to wait.
“That’s a long ways away right now,” said Cone in a press conference on Monday, July 15, when asked about the possibility of adding Abarrientos to Gilas Pilipinas’ pool.
“He’s a young guy. He could be, three or four years from now. You don’t know what the team’s going to be. But I keep emphasizing, anytime you put somebody in on a team, you bring RJ in, you have to take somebody off.”
Abarrientos suited up for the national team from 2021 to 2022 under former head coaches Tab Baldwin and Chot Reyes.
His stints included the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia in 2021 and the FIBA Asia Cup in Indonesia in 2022 before Abarrientos decided to turn professional overseas by joining the Korean Basketball League.
After another season abroad in the Japan B. League, Abarrientos opted to return home as he now learns under Cone at Ginebra.
While Cone has made it clear that he has no plans of expanding Gilas Pilipinas’ pool, Abarrientos’ exposure to the Gin Kings’ triangle offense may put him in strong consideration for a national team spot in the future.
After all, four Ginebra players – Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, and Jamie Malonzo – are part of the pool.
“RJ might be a different example because he’ll be practicing with us and he’ll know about the Ginebra system which we’re using in the Nationals, so he might be an exception,” said Cone.
For now, Cone intends to stick with his 12-man roster as he hopes to see Thompson, Malonzo, and AJ Edu recover from their injuries in time for the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in November.
“We’re going to stay at 12 guys,” said Cone. – Rappler.com
