The Prototype

The Prototype

There was a time when PBA commentators would readily hand out monikers to just about anyone and everyone-- stars or not. Some of which became legendary thanks to that player's on-court skills, others stuck because it was simply the humorous thing to do.

It has always fascinated us how noone really came up with a moniker for one Gabby Espinas. We're not talking about the Espinas of today who has proven to be a solid contributor for the Alaska Aces, or the Espinas that was drafted by the San Miguel Beermen (now Petron Blaze Boosters) and buried on the bench behind a bunch of frontline veterans. We're talking about the Philippine Christian University-era Gabby Espinas, the man who won Rookie of the Year-Most Valuable Player in the NCAA (which was tarnished the year after when the league opted to give the same ROY-MVP double award to FOREIGNER Sam Ekwe) and was posting crazy, Calvin "The Beast" Abueva numbers even before The Beast came into the scene.

There were no monikers. There were no love fests of hype for Espinas. He was "the man" and more than held his own when the competition became toughter (Ekwe). A 6"4 northern pride going up against a PBA-import caliber college reinforcement is just about as unfair as you could get around that time. But he was there. He led PCU to Finals appearances, the last of which he shared the limelight with Jayson Castro and Beau Belga (they failed to win that year though when Belga's desperation game-winning jumper bricked).

Today, we see him playing 18 minutes a game for the Aces either as a back-up to franchise player Sonny Thoss, emerging rookie Abueva or as a reserve forward (a.k.a. the Reynel Hugnatan role in the Aces' previous eras). He's making the most of the new lease on life, averaging 6 points and 4 boards while providing stellar defense and hustle. There's also some degree of swagger back, like he now knows that he belongs in the PBA. He's no longer trying to mix it up with other "confused" hybrid forwards, playing almost exclusively around the shaded lane. The jumper needs a little work, but it's there. The hustle, probably trying to prove that he's at par with The Beast, is coming back.

It's a joy to watch how both Espinas and his, well, Espinas 2.0 Abueva are working together both on and off the court. They're both from the north so there's that connection, and it seems as though they are of the same wave length.

No, we're not pulling for a re-emergence for Espinas or that Mico Halili or Quinito Henson suddenly give one of Alaska's new "Choco-boys" a moniker of his own.

We're just recognizing the PCU Gabby Espinas player for who he was, and how he helped serve as the Prototype for The Beast.