When the news broke out that Calvin Abueva didn't make the Gilas national team's final 12-man lineup, the management and coaching staff has been met with public outrage.
Netizens took to social media their backlash, believing that the coaching staff made a bad coaching decision to remove a kind of a player like The Beast, citing that what he brings to the table is exactly what we need in order to survive the world stage. Some even accused the management of playing politics to favor players that belong to the MVP-owned PBA ball clubs. In this way, players under the MVP umbrella get a free ticket to competitive basketball experience which could be vital in the season-ending PBA Governors' Cup.
I myself is saddened to learn that Abueva won't be fulfilling every cager's dream of serving the country. Imagine the entertainment factor and the buzz will be made if he slugged it out with the world's best. But let's be real here: Calvin Abueva has a lot of holes that could be detrimental to our quest to the Olympics.
To describe Abueva's game in a nutshell, he is the daredevil-type of player who relies on street smarts and physicality to produce the numbers but his 6-foot, 180-pound body frame doesn't suggest he should be playing that kind of game. So rather than pointing fingers, accusations, and spewing conspiracy theories, I gave it a thought and narrowed it down into three aspects of the game why head coach Tab Baldwin gave Abueva the pink slip.
3. Playmaking
In his PBA stint, Abueva usually mans the wing position, playing the game with sheer desire, athleticism, and blitz. But by no means he is a consummate court general, only averaging 2.1 dimes in his four-year professional career. Even by disregarding the stats, he is the type to play the open court rather than to set up his teammates. His type of game did bring us to silver medal finish in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship but we are talking about the best of the world here. When you factor in the level of competition and the style of play in the world stage, for a player of his size he should be able to play the point to contribute to the offensive end otherwise, he would only get outmanned and outskilled by his opponents, assuming if he plays it PBA-style.
2. Shooting
Aside from lack of playmaking skills, the 6-2 Abueva also has unreliable range. He did improve his three-point shooting in the PBA, jumping from 13% accuracy from the 2014-2015 season to 32% clip in 2015-2016 season. But still, that is a terrible average. In fact, in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, he shot a forgettable 17% for 1/6 shooting. It tells you that he doesn't look to snipe from long distance, a stat that doesn't align really well with Baldwin's system. It also allows his man to disrespect his shooting and focus on defending other threats. Lacking in this department makes him a liability on the court and don't argue about his intangibles because my good guess is, other teams have that also.
1. Discipline
The Beast is notorious for his impulsive actions on the court -- an attribute that gives his teammates drive and energy. While it works on the PBA, it could also be the Gilas' bane of existence. The international competition is laced with airtight rules that may limit his aggression. Him being an undersized forward also forces him to extricate his movements, putting him at risk of foul trouble. Before he can make any impact, he is already next to useless due to erratic fouls.
It's not to say Abueva's an average player and that, but we have to admit that his tenacity doesn't suit to what we need. The same argument could be said about undersized power forward Marc Pingris but over the past years the Pinoy Sakuragi has shown his vast improvements in big man fundamentals. He has a decent jump hook and plays disciplined defense as well. Abueva's reliever, the 6-7 Troy Rosario, has also transformed into a potent three-point shooter, giving more spacing to the floor which opens up the lane for slashers Jayson Castro and Terrence Romeo to inflict some damage.
In my mind, this pool of Gilas Pilipinas is the best ever and in layman's terms, "walang tapon." But we are aiming to put forth the best team that meshes well with each other's strengths, not the best stat-padding individual players to compete in the world stage and on that idea alone, head coach Tab Baldwin's and the management's decision to boot out Calvin Abueva is justified.
Stats: PBA Online FIBA
Image: Philstar
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