A More Controlled Beast: Helping Phoenix Rise

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) already imposed several penalties on Calvin Abueva due to his unnecessary antics on the court with the latest one being an indefinite suspension that began in June 2019 and was only lifted last October 25. While many are still wary of those antics, the man we call "The Beast" has already proven that he is more in control of the beast inside him. And that alone is doing wonders for the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters inside the Clark bubble.

In the words of Jinno Rufino, "Everybody is expecting something else from him and he's not giving it. It throws everybody off,"

Rufino and Aaron Atayde discussed the brilliance that is the evolution of Calvin Abueva's game in the latest episode of Jump Thru Hoops on Tuesday and how Abueva being a tamer version of The Beast is helping the Fuel Masters as they try to closeout the TNT Tropang Giga in their best-of-five semifinal series. As Atayde perfectly put it, "The person that is making it a living nightmare for TNT is the guy that has gotten into their head and that's Calvin Abueva,"

More than the fact that Abueva finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, four steals, and a block in Phoenix's 92-89 Game 3 victory, Atayde praised Abueva's effectiveness especially on the defensive end of the game. "Calvin is even more effective on the defensive end right now because he doesn't do any of those extracurricular things. He's getting in their head without actually getting in their head. He's not even trying," 

Rufino added, "I didn't think he could get better but he's even a better basketball player than he was before his suspension,"

Way better. 

Abueva averaged 22 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, and three steals in Game Two and Game Three of the semifinals and those numbers earned him the PBA Press Corps Player of the Week recognition for the November 16 to 22 period.  

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