Gilas' Rhenz Abando flattered by being hometown crowd favorite

Rhenz Abando has garnered loud cheers from the Filipino crowd on several occasions in this 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Whether it's for burying a basket or making an athletic play or even simply entering the court, Abando is clearly one of the crowd favorites for the home team Gilas Pilipinas.

Rhenz Abando's vert is ridiculous ???? #FIBAWC x #WinForPilipinas ???????? pic.twitter.com/VHdh4yzIvT

— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 ???? (@FIBAWC) September 2, 2023

And the high-leaping cager said he's flattered to be one of the more popular players in this tournament.

"Sobrang saya kasi crowd favorite. Wala akong masabi, sobrang flattered ako kasi lagi silang nakasuporta, pangit man o maganda 'yung ginagawa ko," Abando said on the heels of their 96-75 win against China to close out their campaign on Saturday.

("I'm so happy because I'm a crowd favorite. I don't know what to say, I'm so flattered because they're always supporting me, regardless of if I do something good or bad.")

And it was a lot of good that Abando brought to the table on Saturday, putting together 14 points, five rebounds, one assist, and one steal off the bench to help a red-hot Jordan Clarkson in leading Gilas Pilipinas to its first win in this edition of the global cagefest.

Abando is hoping the convincing win can somehow ease the anguish of the fans who have been frustrated after the team's string of losses.

"Sobrang saya pero sana ganito rin 'yung mga nilaro namin nung mga naunang games. So sayang pa rin," Abando added.

"Actually naniwala lang kami sa teammates namin and lagi naman kaming sinasabihan ni Coach na sumandal lang kami sa isa't-isa."

(I'm very happy but it would have been good if we had played like this in our earlier games... Actually, we just believed in our teammates and Coach always told us to just rely on each other.")

—JMB, GMA Integrated News