Abando flattered to have drawn tremendous support from home crowd

Outside Jordan Clarkson, Dwight Ramos, and Junemar Fajaro, Rhenz Abando seemed to have been that one Gilas Pilipinas player whom the home crowd really supported in the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Rhenz Abando PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO 

The fan adulation for Abando was at its peak when the Philippines played China for its final assignment in the world meet at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday, September 2.

Abando got himself a dunk and a block on China’s Kyle Anderson en route to a 14-point, 5-rebound effort in Gilas’ 96-75 triumph — the Philippines lone win in five games this World Cup.

“I’m really happy because it felt like I’m a crowd favorite,” Abando said of the home crowd support he drew.

“I’m speechless. I’m very flattered because they’ve been very supportive of me regardless if I did well or not.”

Abando wasn’t exactly a fan of his overall performance this World Cup, though.

“I had many lapses. You guys saw my decision-making, my turnovers. It’s just fortunate that my baskets made up for my turnovers.”

Gilas easily played their best game against China in the world meet. Only, Abando wished that they have played the way that they did against China a lot earlier, not when they’re already out of second round and knockout phase contention.

“We’re very happy with the win but I can only wish we played this way in our previous games. It’s unfortunate. Us teammates just believed in each other. Coach [Chot] always tells us to lean on each other.”

With the win against China, Abando hoped that Gilas made up for the frustration that Filipino hoops fans had accumulated in those first four games that the Chot Reyes-coached team lost.

“They should be happy and proud [of this win]. I hope this win somehow doused their anger [over our previous losses].”