Japeth Aguilar expresses gratitude to Brgy. Ginebra coaches for first ever Finals MVP award

Bgry. Ginebra reasserted its dominance over Meralco in the ‘Finals Trilogy’ of the PBA Governors’ Cup by virtue of its 4-1 conquest over the Allen Durham-powered squad to reclaim the throne it surrendered last season to the Magnolia Hotshots.

While the ever-reliable Justin Brownlee was at the forefront of the team’s quest to regain the crown, high-flying forward Japeth Aguilar displayed a different kind of bravado that led to a career-first Finals Most Valuable Player award.

“It’s just maturity lang talaga,” said Aguilar who posted 5-game averages of 17.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.4 blocks in the championship round.

“It’s just learning, never stop from growing. Sa lahat ng mga conference na minsan we fall short on our goal, we just keep learning lang talaga. Pasalamat ako sa mga coaches dahil tinutulungan nila ako sa maturity ko dito sa PBA,” he added.

In his acceptance speech, the 32-year old native of Sasmuan, Pampanga refused to take credit for himself and insisted that the victory was a product of team effort.

“Ang hirap i-accept ng Finals MVP kasi alam ko na pinaghirapan din ito ng teammates ko,” explained Aguilar who dropped a team-high 25 points to go along with 8 boards and 4 rejections in the title-clinching Game 5.

“Talagang hindi madali makuha itong championship na ito. We got to earn it talaga,” added the now 5-time PBA champion.