#LetAbuevaBeAbueva

If a guy gives you 100% on the floor,
how can you afford to get mad at him

It's funny how a lot of people, Alaska Aces "fans" or not, were quick to call out Aces' rookie Calvin Abueva for his now famed "fumble" of the basketball when he chose to take matters into his own hands to try and cut a 3 point deficit to 1 in the closing seconds of yesterday's 99-95 loss to the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters.

The original play designed by Coach Luigi Trillo called for a three from JVee Casio (who was blowing hot and cold yesterday-- mostly cold in the 1st three quarters before he realized that he needed to start putting up shots). There were other options as well, but Abueva was the only guy who the Texters "allowed" to receive the basketball. Abueva, mindful of his spotty three point shooting, chose to go hard to the rim versus Jarred Dillinger but ended up dribbling the ball against his knee for the turnover.

People started calling for "The Beast" 's head to be served on a silver platter. They started spewing venom Abueva's way so much that Coach Luigi was reported/ tweeted by some insiders to have gone out of his way to give his top rookie some words of encouragement.

In case everyone forgot and were glued to that last play, it was Abueva who turned it up in the 2nd half to bring back the Aces. Him, alongside his "Prototype" Gabby Espinas were the backbone of that Aces run, yes, RJ Jazul, Casio, Cyrus Baguio and Dondon Hontiveros were starting to hit their threes-- but their under-rated and vastly under-sized forward duo from the North kept them in it with hustle plays and rebounds.

Granted, Abueva is still playing like he did in the NCAA. It's like an odd combination of his first and last years with San Sebastian-- he is doing the dirty work just like when they won the NCAA title (with Jimbo Aquino *who?* taking care of the scoring load) while he is also looking to score each time down (pay attention to Abueva, it's almost like every single play he tries and begs his guards to give him the ball with his right hand stretched all the way up looking for an entry pass).

Are the Aces' coaching staff doing enough to curtail the talented Abueva?

Yes, right now as good as he is Abueva needs direction. Coach Luigi and his host of top notch assistants (Topex Robinson, Louie Alas, Alex Compton, et al) are letting Abueva's game take over the system and it has proven to be 50-50. Sometimes they win, others (like last night's) they lose. They get back into the fight, but it's almost like opponents would just let Abueva takeover and wait for him to make a crucial error on the hard court as he is almost always prone to do.

No, Cliff Hodge of the Meralco Bolts is still not a better player than Abueva. Not even close. Iba yung talong lang ng talon sa talon na may diskarte.

As for the flopping, the commentators need to check themselves a bit here. When Hodge or Ronald Tubid does it, they don't get on his case as much and dismiss it with humor. When Abueva goes down, Jason Webb is quick to point it out faster than Quinito Henson could spread useless gossip.

See, Abueva wasn't really much of a flopper. His whole NCAA career was built around brutality, what he dishes out, he can take. In his first few games in the PBA, he wasn't getting the calls despite all the hits he was getting. Either his coaches got in his ear to start "selling"some fouls or he saw how Hodge was diving and flopping all over the court and getting calls.

So yeah, Abueva's flopping to sell calls. Not because he's a weak player. He just needs more time to work on his flopping game and he'll be good.

Pero kung ikaw kaya 6"1 na kasing payat lang halos ni Cyrus Baguio, tapos sasaluhin mo ung buong pwersa na drive nina 6"7 Kelly Williams, 6"8 Ranidel de Ocampo, 6"4 Ali Peek etc. hindi ka kaya damputin sa sahig?

Should Abueva change his game and hold back in Game 6? HELL NO. If anything, we want him to be even more aggressive but without getting called for silly fouls. He's obviously adjusted his game, holding back in the 1st half before going full throttle in the 2nd because of all the fouls he's being called for due to his high-activity game.

Given more time in the league to adjust to how calls are made and more "bonding" moments with high basketball IQ guys like Hontiveros, Casio and Nic Belasco and you are looking at the league's best Small Forward in a year or two.