Player of the Week: Abueva in early beast mode for Aces
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Calvin Abueva capped Alaska’s tough two-game stretch for the week with solid plays to capture his first Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week award in the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Nicknamed the “Beast”, the undersized Alaska forward provided the hustle he was known for since his college days that enabled the Aces to secure confidence-building wins against defending champion Tropang TNT and Rain or Shine respectively.
On Wednesday, the 6-foot-1 Abueva collected 11 points and added six rebounds despite running into foul trouble to help Alaska complete a come-from-behind 108-100 victory over TNT.
Three days later, the former PBA Rookie of the Year dropped a personal conference-best output of 25 points that went with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals as Alaska steamrolled Rain or Shine, 128-102.
The 28-year-old Abueva secured the PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for the period of February 23-28 after beating teammate Vic Manuel, Mahindra’s Chito Jaime, San Miguel’s Marcio Lassiter and Greg Slaughter of Barangay Ginebra.
Abueva’s huge plays early in the conference was a strong indication that he already moved on from the Aces’ embarrassing 4-3 Finals defeat to the San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Cup.
The Aces only needed a win to capture the All-Filipino conference crown after winning the first three games in the Finals. But they found themselves losing the last four, allowing the Beermen to complete their historic title conquest.
Alaska, which opened the conference with a shock 101-107 loss to Blackwater, shoots for a third straight win when it collides with Phoenix on Friday.
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