Shinshu Brave Warriors and RJ Abarrientos in the Japan B.League. –B.LEAGUE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—RJ Abarrientos didn’t have the most colorful maiden season in the Japanese B.League with the Shinshu Brave Warriors but that didn’t hinder him from looking at the silver lining.
After an impressive campaign in the Korean Basketball League (KBL) where he was named Rookie of the Year, Abarrientos took his talents to Japan in the B.League where he suited up for Shinshu.
“[It was a] very rough season for our team, especially for me individually but like I’ve been saying, you get more learnings [in losses] so I don’t think that once we lose, we wouldn’t learn from what we’ve been doing,” said Abarrientos in Filipino at Mall of Asia Music Hall.
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Abarrientos was back in the Philippines on Saturday as a special guest at the B.League’s watch party for Game 1 of the finals between the Hiroshima Dragonflies and the Ryukyu Golden Kings.
It was a homecoming affair for the former Far Eastern University standout with Filipino fans swarming him during the meet-and-greet session.
The 24-year-old guard averaged 7.8 points, 2.4 assists, 1.7 rebounds and close to a steal in 49 games for the Brave Warriors.
READ: RJ Abarrientos meets Shinshu team ahead of B.League season
Shinshu won just 10 games out of 60 for the worst record in the B1’s Middle District Division. But more than the losses, Abarrientos said he learned a lot in his first season.
“Generally, there’s a need for point guards to be leaders in their teams. You can’t just improve your skills but also your communication with the coaches,” said Abarrientos.
Abarrientos is eager to have a much better performance next season although he said that he is still uncertain about what’s next.