MANILA, Philippines – The departure of Christian Standhardinger has forced Barangay Ginebra to put more burden on Japeth Aguilar, but the veteran forward has embraced his bigger role.
Aguilar has been a steady presence for a Gin Kings side still adjusting to key changes to its roster as he enjoys a career renaissance at the age of 37.
He erupted for 31 points in a 110-101 victory over Phoenix on Friday, September 6, steering Ginebra to its first back-to-back wins in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
It is his highest scoring output in four years, or since Aguilar fired 32 points in the Gin Kings’ title-clinching win in the 2020 Philippine Cup.
“He had Greg with him when I first came to the team. Greg Slaughter was with him. Then Christian came. He was always like the Robin to the Batman,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone of Aguilar.
“Now, he is finally getting the opportunity to be the Batman.”
“It is a big adjustment for him because the minutes are going up, the touches are going up, the expectations for him defensively is also going up. It is a big adjustment for him and he has done a really good job doing it so far.”
The Gin Kings have been on a transition period after trading Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle to Terrafirma in exchange for Stephen Holt, Isaac Go, and the No. 3 pick in the last draft, which they used to select RJ Abarrientos.
Standhardinger finished third in the MVP race last season, so losing him proved to be a gut punch for Ginebra as the team endured a shaky start and dropped two of its first three games of the conference.
But Aguilar has been key in steadying the ship, leading all Gin Kings locals in scoring with an average of 20.4 points on an impressive 67% shooting to go with 6.6 rebounds to guide the team to a 3-2 record in Group B.
Aguilar is third in the league in scoring among locals, ranking behind First Mythical Team members Arvin Tolentino (23.2) of NorthPort and June Mar Fajardo (22.6) of San Miguel.
“He is putting up, dare I say, MVP numbers at this point through this first round. He has been very, very consistent all the way through this first round,” said Cone.
“So he is doing a great job of getting to his spots and we’re finding him and he is taking advantage of mismatches on the floor. He has been playing wonderfully.”
For Cone, Aguilar is simply showing that he remains an elite player despite being one of the elder statesmen of the PBA.
“Sometimes, you did not get a chance to see that all the time because he was sharing time with Greg and Christian in the past,” said Cone.
“Now that he has got that position open all to himself, he is really showing everybody who he is and how well he can play.” – Rappler.com