(c) PBA Media Bureau
Behind the chaos, physicality and the tic-tac-toe nature of the second game of the semifinals series of San Miguel Beermen and Phoenix Fuel Masters was Calvin Abueva.
I am not saying that he was the reason for all of it but it was near-damn close!
There were two key highlights for Calvin in the game. First was his altercation with Christian Standhardinger at the 6:10 mark of the 2nd quarter.
According to Christian, it was accidental. Although, that was very questionable after we saw Calvin played around him and whispered things to him during the game.
Nonetheless, Calvin was able to victimize a big fish in his wide arrays of physicality, taunting and weird expressions. Standhardinger was ejected from the game.
That was a good thing, but that may have led Calvin to intensify what he was doing as the game continued.
We saw him smiling, whispering and even taunting the other bigs and wings of San Miguel.
The question now is, did those things helped Phoenix?
His last foul against June Mar Fajardo was a key point to what I am saying. His aggressiveness won over his mind again as proven by his reaction after he committed the foul. He pointed to his head over and over again, admitting the mistake that he committed.
Then of course, what he did after that may have cost them the game. He went straight to the dugout, forcing the referees to call a delay-of-the-game warning which was the 2nd one for Phoenix. That gave San Miguel an extra free-throw.
Other than the free-throw, I am pretty sure his teammates and coaching staff were baffled by what happened and their focus in the game was zap.
Abueva's energy and physicality are pluses for his team but the other things that he brings with it may not be necessary and may not be helping his teammates and even his coaching staff.
Comments
Post a Comment