A few months ago, a return to the Gilas Pilipinas Men’s National Basketball Team for RJ Abarrientos seemed unlikely.

Abarrientos’ head coach at Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, Tim Cone, who also serves as Gilas’ mentor previously wrote off the idea for the immediate future. The former FEU Tamaraw Abarrientos already suited up for Gilas at the 2021 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and 2022 FIBA Asia Cup with former head coach Tab Baldwin’s college-laden squad, but Cone’s preference for a big backcourt presumably left the 5’11 guard off the team’s roster for the foreseeable future.

However, injuries to national team mainstay Calvin Oftana gave Abarrientos, together with Rhenz Abando, Zavier Lucero, and Troy Rosario, a chance to join the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup pool. 

Of the four aforementioned players, only Abarrientos and Rosario were able to make the commitment and the pair were in Gilas’ line-up when they faced the Macau Black Bears in a tune-up game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum earlier this week. 

Abarrientos was fielded in by Cone to close out the opening quarter where he managed to score his only two points of the game–a midrange jumper after successfully breaking Macau’s full court press. 

The 25-year-old guard wound up playing just five minutes, but this is unlikely to be the last time that the former KBL Rookie of the Year will suit up for Gilas. While his defense still remains a work in progress, Abarrientos’ play–especially on offense–has teased that he could be the next great Gilas Pilipinas point guard.

He shot 37.9% on three-pointers in his rookie season with Ginebra, showcasing his ability to punish sagging defenses and space the floor. Perimeter shooting is particularly essential on the international stage, so for as long as Abarrientos can continue hitting his threes at a decent clip, there will always be room for him at Gilas.

For this year’s FIBA Asia Cup though, Abarrientos was ultimately left off the final team as Oftana was cleared to play and join Gilas for the tournament in Saudi Arabia. 

Abarrientos has also shown that he has the ability to create and shoot off the dribble at any level of play, torching defenses in the PBA as he did at his previous stops in the UAAP, Korea, and Japan. Notably, his pick-and-roll game has grown at Ginebra given that he shares the floor with one of the best roll partners in the country, veteran Gilas big man Japeth Aguilar. 

With Cone continuing to mold him at Ginebra, Abarrientos’ ever growing grasp of his system and principles should give him a leg up in the international windows to come. If his learning curve continues to bend upward, Abarrientos could soon be not only the face of Ginebra, but Gilas as well.