The unleashing (of sort) of Calvin Abueva

Photo taken during the 2012 PBA draft where Abueva was selected 2nd overall and eventually winning ROY honors

When Calvin Abueva began eviscerating opponents in the pro league with all of his antics, we knew that there's a limit to such misaction that only the league, in some extent his own team, could ever allow. The Beast is living up to a moniker that leaned towards its more undesirable definition. He taunted the league in such time he’s supposed to pass through rookie initiation when he arrived in 2012 giving a screw you facial to the veteran hardliners. He could get the goat out of everyone else in such fashion you begin to question the amount of respect (or lack thereof) he has to the game. He has that villainous juice spewing from all direction that is poisonous enough to change everyone's perception of basketball. 

And it wasn't like the media, basketball fans, and the league itself took it easy on The Beast. He was loathed in every way he crossed paths with the league's darlings and he thrived on that negativity to fuel himself. He's taken the lead antagonist role to commensurate with the natural God-given physical gifts because it's never going to be enough that he devours you in the game. As you think about what just happened on it, it continues to haunt you all the way to your bed. He's all over you, reminding you of the mental lapse you committed because you let him into your head. For all the  maniacal carnage Abueva freed from restraint, his Alaska Aces team, whom by history is known for strutting a prim and proper and disciplined team, went through leaps and bounds in giving up that identity by loving all the crazy shits by the way of Calvin's onslaught. 

Now it struck everybody else now to realize that an ultimate heel in Abueva is being rewarded a stint in Gilas 3.0 that will unravel this September. Beau Belga almost filled in that role two years ago. But Abueva is in entirely different league.

I imagine Abueva doing his Abueva thing in the international stage with the sole purpose of making his antics as a primary asset to a beleaguered Philippine team. Only two years removed from that triumphant FIBA-Asia held here in our soil but now in dire strait of losing all the momentum because of the foolish politicking in commercial basketball. For a country reeling from a loss with an opportunity to host FIBA-World, the buildup in composing the best possible team also went down the drain with that defeat. Abueva, on one hand, posits an intriguing component with his prospective inclusion on the final line up of Gilas. He is the consummate villain which will spell advantage to a Gilas team searching for identity with the absence of its mainstays.

The corporate rivalry or bickering or simply immature display of power is already costly for this Gilas team before it actually strut its stuff. Holding off vital cogs in joining the Philippine team as if these corporate idiots bought these players’ patriotism in a contract reminded us again of the sad state of commercialized sports. It reminded us that after all the gains Philippine basketball achieved in recent memory, it will amount to nothing now because its financial backing is at the mercy of corporate’s whims. Basketball can’t be held hostage forever and what this Gilas can make do is to extract whatever it is worth juicing from the available talents in the pool. Abueva, and the rest of the new faces might be the wild cards to retool the national team and move on from this debauchery.

We always cringe on the very existence of a Calvin Abueva wreaking all sorts of havoc in a league ironically enamored for its own brand of physicality from decades back. While Abueva as a different kind of beast does skate through the borders of controlled physicality and insanity, that doesn't make his potential impact to a Gilas team will be any less great. "Antagal ng uso ng terminong bida-kontrabida" and Calvin is a shot I personally am willing to take when no one, out of expediency, is out there interested in putting the flag first before their name and the idiot franchise that pays their salary. 

The heel could be our new-age hero after all.

The Draftee That Mattered to Me

Calvin Abueva, Baste’s Beast of a player made it as the second overall pick earlier at the PBA Annual Draft and that came as no surprise. Picked ahead of him is the Cebuano behemoth Junmar Fajardo who was already a shoo-in for the top spot leading to the D-Day as Petron couldn’t hide his giggles, kept on blabbing Fajardo’s imminent place in history as the tallest number one pick in the PBA like he wanted everybody else to do something about it. Duh? Basketball pundits in the social media can’t miss on the forecast as team owners/officials already decided publicly whom they would snatch from the bucket. Except perhaps a surprisingly seventh pick in Chris Tiu, who remains as the most accomplished draftee on the rookie draft. Also leading to the draft, Tiu is reportedly being eyed by Brgy Ginebra San Miguel (as it seems everybody else) coach Siot Tangquincen and in fact has all the opportunity to snatch the former King Blue Eagle. Well, Tiu eventually landed on a team that badly needs his talents and screaming groupies. One of the draft’s sidelights would’ve been, “Beauty (Tiu) and the Beast (Abueva) swap off” had it been Chris Tiu was drafted by Ginebra. “Alaska Aces trades Calvin Abueva for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Chris Tiu and IBILIB cameo appearance (I swear, this is a product of research).

Abueva, however, smacked the rest of the field like he would usually floor opposing players. His being a different kind of a beast warranted him five draft picks higher than Tiu, comparably the more gifted player and ahead of but one draftee of perhaps one of the best rookie class in recent decade. The way he plays, he seemed like a 6’3 version of Wilt Chamberlain. Oh yeah I haven’t watched any of Wilt’s on court (and off court) performance, but the stat beast they both were, is the focal point of the comparison given their insatiable hunger to pad up the stats (Abueva, on a regular basis in NCAA would normally get 20+ points 20+ rebounds around 15 assists and half a dozen karate chops). You can’t even associate effortless on an Abueva narrative, ‘cause it seems even just a simple dribble will be infused with power boost.

He’ll break into the limelight of PBA prominence for sure, like breaking the backboard of one arena that delayed an official NCAA game. He too, will break the backs of opposing players like the rugged band of thugs Robert Jaworski led in the late 80’s. With a wide gamut of what he can do on the court, nobody could ever tell what kind of Beast that shall step on the hardwood. He’ll piss you off on the defensive ala Ronald Tubid, he’ll barrel into whatever form of defense like a young Mark Caguioa and carom them rebounds like Eric Menk once did. Pang-Ginebra talaga eh! And brandwise, now that he’s picked by Alaska, I’m not so sure if Abueva is even a good product ambassador for his team (sa angas ng dating nya, hindi talaga siya mukhang umiinom ng gatas, pre!)

Hopeful as I may have, I know he wouldn’t land to Ginebra as some teams will be appalled and perhaps bemused with the intriguing impact he may bring to their teams. On a brief encounter with Abueva shortly after the Rookie Draft in a restaurant, I even told him my remorse he got picked first before Ginebra got a chance. He just shrugged at the thought, or maybe it hasn’t sunk on him yet.

Time and time again, we hear teams select players for the same reasons and arguably, this batch boasts just about an abundance of those. And time and time again, such folly of picking and sticking to those reasons became the mockery of sort as they scramble being passed around and never really lived up to potential. Just how many of these draftees of yesteryears’ “paper promise” did go for naught? The “Fil-Am” factor, the “Giant” factor, and even the “Boy Next Door” factor lorded it over the draft headlines for so many years now. While some stuck, most got lost to oblivion.

Then along came The Beast Abueva. Not your Fil-Am savior whose freakish brand of play dwarfs that of the homegrowns. Not your towering behemoth who will wreck havoc on the shaded lane and cause shivers down the spine of the opponents. And certainly not your Boy Next Door papa-ble who will drove screaming fans to the arena who completely have no idea about basketball. He had none of these attributes but for me he is what matters from these aspiring pros. Pure heart, pure hustle, and yeah, pure angas! He would never dazzle anyone with an assortment of moves but he’ll sure keep you on your toes waiting for him to either slam the ball or to slam himself to the sidelines. Mahihiya ang injury kay Abueva. Yes, the bias emanates from that devil-may-care attitude of him reminiscent of Robert Jaworski and it would’ve been only fitting had he landed to the team that matters to me. But none of that matters now. I can only hope that with his success in the pros that PBA can break the cycle of conventional choice on annual rookie draft. Giving credence more on that truism, “Got balls?”

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PBA Twist

As commercial as every PBA team is, we can perhaps put on some twist to the ball clubs’ name. A merger with other products/ services, brands and subsidiaries, and even personalities is all it takes to add some pizzazz to their names. Now meet our new favorite teams:

Petron Gasulistas (Carrying their LPG subsidiary)
TNT Pasaloaders (with Jimmy Alapag, the king pasaloader)
BMEG Pallados ( Tie Up with PayPal)
Alaska Milkfish (Alaska and Century Tuna, who would’ve thought)
Meralco Bills Monsters (Halimaw talaga!) (Meralco and Jugno’s Monster Pizza)
Barako Bull Frog (Barako Bull and Le Frog Clothing teaming up)
Ginebra King Ina (Ginebra ang Mang Inasal is the perfect complement)
Bear 21 (Bear Brand and Air 21, medyo pilit lang)
Rain or Shine Elastimosa (Jojo Lastimosa taking over Yeng Guiao)
Global Port Batang May Laban (Newcomer Global Port and Bonakid in the house!)