WILL ‘THE BEAST’ BE FIRST ROOKIE BPC IN 14 YEARS?
Petron Blaze’s Arwind Santos remained No.1 in the statistical points standings for the Best Player of the Conference award through the end of the semifinals of the 2012-13 Philippine Cup.
But rookie Calvin Abueva’s remaining in second spot and his leading Alaska to a gallant, losing effort in the best-of-seven semifinal against two-time defending champion Talk ‘N Text should augur well for his chances to become the first rookie in 14 years to win conference MVP honors.
Eyeing his second BPC plum after first winning in in the 2011 Governors Cup, Santos averaged 35.1 SPs per game in the conference built around his conference-best 12.0 rebounds and 1.4 shotblocks per game and fourth-best 17.4 points per outing.
Abueva, the league’s No. 2 overall pick in last year’s Annual Draft, remained at second as of the end of the semis with his 31.0 average SPs per game culled from his second league-best 10.6 boards per game, fourth-best 1.2 bpg, eighth-best 1.1 spg and 13th-best 14.5 ppg.
Santos and Abueva, both proud sons of Pampanga, were the only two players who averaged a double-double in the conference and came up with 12 and 11 double-double performances, respectively, most among all players.
The conference’s scoring and assists leader with his 19.1 ppg and 6.7 apg, Meralco’s Sol Mercado moved up to No. 3 from his previous No. 4 at the end of the quarterfinals with his 30.3 average SPs.
Like Santos’ Boosters squad, Mercado’s Bolts team failed to reach the Final 4 of the playoffs.
Talk ‘N Text’s Jayson Castro fell to No. 4 in the SPs standings with his 29.6 average, from No. 3 at the end of the quarterfinals, while teammate Ranidel de Ocampo moved up to No. 5 with his 27.8 (from No. 7 prior to the semis).
Abueva is looking to follow in the footsteps of Barangay Ginebra’s Mark Caguioa who won BPC honors in last season’s Commissioner’s and Governors Cups even with the Kings not making it to the conference Finals.
Danny Seigle, then playing for San Miguel Beer, was the last rookie to win Best Player of the Conference honors, which he did in the 1999 Governors Cup.
Abueva is however looking to win BPC honors right in his first conference in the league, a feat previously recorded only by Eric Menk in the 1999 All-Filipino Cup while still with Tanduay.
The criteria for the selection of the BPC is 40% statistics, 30% media votes, 25% players votes and 5% Commissioner’s Office vote.
Voting for the said award will begin on Wednesday which is also the start of the best-of-seven Finals between Talk ‘N Text and Rain or Shine at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Best Player of the Conference plum will be handed out in Game 4 of the Finals. (FM)
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
