Rookie watch: The Beast vs Cliff Hodge

You reach, I teach

We'll be the first to admit it.

While we always thought that the Alaska Aces' Calvin Abueva is the better player overall, we sided with the Meralco Bolts' Clifford Hodge and the latter having the better conference given his size. In case you're living under a rock, the current PBA Commissioner's Cup features a barrage of 6"9 and up imports that could only make life for the 6"1 (no way he's 6"3, have you seen him standing next to teammate Cyrus Baguio?) Abueva a living hell. Hodge, who stands at a legit 6"5, should be excelling this conference and playing at his regular power forward spot with ease.

Right?

Wrong.


Abueva is averaging a solid 9.5 points to go with 9.5 rebounds in 21 minutes of play while his former PBA D-League teammate and now rookie rival Hodge is norming a measly 7.2 to go with an unforgivable 5.4 boards in 23 minutes. To make things even more interesting, Abueva's doing all of that while being called for at least 4 fouls a night compared to Hodge's 2. That only means that Abueva's a threat to do even more had he been mindful of the referees.

It should also be noted that the games have been so-so- in terms of physicality so far. We're not seeing the usual "pa-simple" hits being handed out on a daily basis, so there's really no excuse for the hardcourt floor-diving Hodge to not excel.

Yes, Hodge is "adapting" to playing the small forward spot while teammates JayR Reyes and Vic Manuel man the 4, but this is where the whole "Abueva is better than Hodge" argument is and should finally be put to rest.

Abueva, right now, is a more accomplished scorer and ball handler than Hodge. Hodge could be great given his work ethic and potential, but it's almost like saying that Allein Maliksi is in the same lofty perch as PJ Simon is as a true-blue clutch scorer (i.e. the tools are there, but not yet).

Where the haters at?