In-form Japeth stands tall on, off court

MANILA, Philippines - Japeth Aguilar was a key figure in Ginebra’s outing Sunday night.

He carried the fight for the Gin Kings and later carried out the task of expressing apology to Star team manager Alvin Patrimonio who had some heated exchange of words with Japeth’s father Peter Aguilar during the Ginebra-Star showdown.

Aguilar delivered 21 points as the Gin Kings fashioned out a dramatic come-from-behind 116-103 win over the Hotshots to book a berth in the eight-team playoff play.

The 2009 top draft pick is enjoying a breakout conference, averaging 15.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 assists.

With a career average of only 10.9 points, Aguilar now puts in a career-best norm of 14.5 this season.

Patrimonio, who seldom loses his cool, and the elder Aguilar, contemporaries in their PABL and PBA days, engaged in a face-to-face verbal tussle triggered by a referee’s no-call on a play  by Ginebra’s Jervy Cruz  on Star import  Joel Wright. during the game.

“Iniintay ko lang na maghamon siya (I was waiting for him to go for a fight),” said Patrimonio.

“He was like ordering us to sit down. But who is he? We are both former players and he has no respect. He’s like a bully,” said Patrimonio.

Patrimonio and Star governor Rene Pardo rose from theirs seats and protested  the  no-call which drew sharp reactions from Aguilar’s father.

“I’m the team manager and I’m trying to protect our import. I was just asking the refs for some explanations, and there he (Aguilar) was with his angry gestures,” said Patrimonio.

Aguilar was then seated on the press row and was saying: “He’s an experienced player. How many times he’d won an MVP award? He should know that a player would do anything to distract his opponent.”

At the hallway leading to the dugouts, Patrimonio had a parting shot towards Aguilar: “Huwag kang parang siga ( Don’t act like a tough guy).”

Patrimonio then proceeded to the PBA office for some official matters and was later sought out by the young Aguilar to apologize in behalf of his father.

And it’s all well that ends well.

The Kings, meanwhile, take a 12-day rest before plunging back into action on Sept. 9 versus the Mahindra Enforcers, with 7-foot-1 behemoth Greg Slaughter likely to be back in harness.

Ginebra coach Tim Cone said Slaughter’s return could be bane or boon for the  kind of game the team is playing now.

“Obviously, we’re playing pretty good basketball. But I think there’s a choice here with Greg. He could either be a disruption because we’re playing good basketball or he could be a bona fide added weapon that could take us to the next level. That’s really up for us coaching staff, to make that happen,” said Cone.

“He’s going to start practice fully this week. We’re expecting him to play some minutes against Mahindra,” said Cone of Slaughter who’s been out since the end of the Commissioner’s Cup.

“He’ll be coming off the bench and play limited minutes as we’re going to bring him back slowly. We’re not going to give him 35-40 minutes,” Cone added.