The Beast for PBA Commish Cup BPC

No stopping the Beast

The PBA Commissioner's Cup was supposed to be the one conference that would break the spirit of Alaska Aces' heralded rookie Calvin Abueva. It's where gargantuan imports would reign supreme, and Abueva's rookie rivals, top overall pick 6"10 Junemar Fajardo and the Meralco Bolts' 6"5 Cliff Hodge would be able to prove their worth.

Why wouldn't it be? Abueva after all is a hustling, rebounding, do-it-all and win-at-all-costs SIX FOOT ONE AND A HALF tall forward. He was supposed to hide in the shadows behind bigger teammates Sonny Thoss (who would naturally slide down to the power forward spot to make room for 6"9 import Rob Dozier at the center position) and even bossom buddy Gabby Espinas.

But how did the rookie touted as "The Beast" respond?


In only 27 minutes of burn he is the league leader in rebounds among locals with almost 9 caroms a game (San Mig Coffee's Marc Pingris is a distant 2nd with a 7.6 clip but that dude plays huge minutes). He is also, surprisingly, the team's top local scorer with 11 a game while playing a myriad of positions from small forward to power forward and at times, when teammate Cyrus Baguio has a quiet night, even at shooting guard.

And though the Aces' offense is more than just Abueva, it seems as though the guys are able to feed off the rookie's energy specially when they find themselves trailing in the latter quarters. It's the boundless energy, the supreme confidence and swagger that Abueva brings to the table that makes the Aces' hopeful believe that as long as he's on the floor, no matter the deficit, they'll have a fighting chance-- or die trying (in Abueva's case, this comes almost literally).

The thing going against Abueva of course is one, he's not a favorite of most "expert media men." On the floor he is raucous, unpredictable and almost appears to be too full of himself. Off it, he is goofy and aloof (almost Willie Miller-like) but no one dares joke with him or truly "hang" with him because of his on-court antics and reputation.

Also, the Aces are a system team. They can win games with Abueva playing 27 minutes a night and off the bench. That speaks volumes about how they approach the game, how it's "WE NOT ME" and we love them for it.

Sadly, that principle and belief just might rob Abueva of his claim to the Best Player of the Conference award (just like it has for Petron's Arwind Santos time and again dating back to his Air21 days).