When he came through with a game-saving block on Meralco's Allen Durham in Game 1, Barangay Ginebra's big man Japeth Aguilar also reached a personal milestone as he joined the ranks of the 15 best shot-blockers in PBA history.
Aguilar's swat on Durham's layup - his third for the night - hiked his pro career total to 575, enabling the second-generation star to supplant Ricky Relosa (574) as No. 15 in the PBA's all-time shot blocks list.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone couldn't hide his fascination with Aguilar' defensive gem on Durham, which helped the Gin Kings seal a 91-87 victory and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven title series against the tough Bolts.
"It's really nice to see him do that defensively. He's done so many things offensively and he's done that defensively, too but that was really spectacular, that block at the end of the game. One-on-one with Durham, full steam, getting up and getting a hand on that shot.
"It was really a tremendous play, one of the best I've seen in a long time," said Cone.
The 6-foot-9 Aguilar said he just did his best to stop the attacking Durham.
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"Alam namin na magte-takeover si Durham, Seconds na lang, nakita ko sa kanya ang bola, nakita ko talagang attack strong siya so talagang nag-focus lang ako sa kanya. Tapos, ayun, triny ko na yung best ko, fortunately, nakuha ko yung block," said the Gilas Pilipinas mainstay.
Aguilar, who also chipped in 16 points to go with six rebounds and three assists, is in no mood to celebrate this feat, though.
"One game pa lang yan. It's a long series for us, yun ang mentality namin. We're glad nakuha namin itong game na ito, three more wins pa," he said."Sana masustain namin yung defensive energy, or mahigitan pa namin." (OL)
