Basketball
Calvin Abueva keeps it business as usual in reunion with Titan Ultra
ANTIPOLO — It proved to be so short a stint with Titan Ultra, but Calvin Abueva does not harbor any ill feelings whatsoever toward the neophyte PBA franchise.
In fact, he remains friends with his ex-teammates to this day, which was evident when Converge faced the Giant Risers in Wednesday’s Commissioner’s Cup tiff.
“Oo, close naman talaga kahit one [conference] lang ‘yung napagsamahan,” he said shortly after their 103-82 victory to stop a five-game-losing skid at the Ynares Center here.
“Siyempre, ‘di naman iba rin ‘yung mga tropa roon.”
It’s no secret that Abueva and Titan Ultra had a falling-out of sorts after their maiden conference together that was the Season 50 Philippine Cup, with the ‘Beast’ himself expressing his discontent through his social media pages.
That led to his trade to the FiberXers last February, marking the end of his stay with the Pureblends-owned team where he actually enjoyed a career revival, as proven by a BPC candidacy in the season-opening tournament.
It’s been two months already since both camps opted to part ways, but they crossed paths anew on Wednesday when the two teams met in this city.
Still, there was a mutual respect between the present-day Giant Risers and the one-time champion, who towed the club to its first PBA win in this venue–a 100-96 decision against Meralco last October 8 where he dropped 41 big points.
But it was business as usual for them once the ball tipped off, and Abueva himself would go on to deliver 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting on top of five rebounds and a steal in 16 minutes off the bench–all without a turnover.
(C) PBA Images
“Business eh. Kapag trabaho, trabaho. Sa court tatrabahuhin mo. Pero sa labas, magkakaibigan,” said the 14-year vet out of San Sebastian.
“”Pag nakipag-away ka diyan sa court, may fine tayo kay Kume. Ayoko na,” he added in jest, drawing chuckles from members of the media in the presser.
It was indeed a far better showing as compared to his Converge debut in a loss to current leaders Rain or Shine last week, where he only had five points.
“Tinrabaho ko ‘yung three days na ‘yun, bago ‘tong game na ‘to. And ang resulta, mas um-OK, mas gumaan, at mas naging agresibo ako,” he said.
There was, however, no personal vendetta for Abueva in going up against his ex-team, with his focus set not just on himself but on building better chemistry with a FiberXers team that’s become rich in Kapampangan talent.
“Siyempre, manyaman, sabi nga sa Kapampangan,” he said. “Maganda ‘yung ginawa namin. ‘Yung mga Kapampangan, makikita niyo naman kami ‘yung nakapagpaangat dahil doon sa press namin na ginawa.
“‘Yung spiritual na paglalaro namin as five doon sa loob, kakaiba ‘yung experience namin. Kapampangan eh,” he added.
“Hindi lang naman kami, ang team talaga ang pagbabasehan ng lahat ng mga pinaghirapan naming panalo.”
Now, Abueva is just hoping that Wednesday’s triumph would be the start of something for the rest of Converge, as they’ve finally remembered how to win.
“Sabi nga ni Coach, baguhan pa ‘yung team, hindi pa naaayos ‘yung gusot. Hindi pa nalalabhan, at hindi pa napaplantsa,” he said.
“Sana itong second win, dito na kami magtuloy-tuloy,” Abueva added. “Naputol na ‘yung losing streak namin, sana naman ‘to, winning streak naman.”
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NLEX took the solo lead in Group A following a convincing 110-96 victory over the erstwhile perfect San Miguel to extend its unbeaten run to four in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup on Sunday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
In a game where they showed a bit of everything, the Road Warriors went on a tear in the second chapter, inflated the lead to its biggest at 25 in the third, and then displayed solid poise in the defining chapter to put the Beermen away.
Robert Bolick connected on a four, then came Robbie Herndon with a triple not long after as that 7-0 spurt pushed their lead back to 99-84 with 6:23 to go, and that proved to be enough to restore order after their foes cut the gap to eight.
DeQuan Jones took over afterward to lead the strong closeout as they went on to become the lone team without a loss thus far as the Beermen fell to 3-1.
In what’s becoming a trend since Coach Jimmy Alapag arrived, NLEX leaned on another balanced attack that saw a five finish in double figures
Jones himself led the way with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Deschon Winston finished with 24 points, four rebounds, and four assists as he triggered the 14-0 run in the second chapter for a 44-27 lead that set the tone for the rout.
Tony Semerad had 15 points as his long bombs helped put together the solid finish. Bolick came just short of a triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds, and 12 assists while Herndon added 13 markers to lead the bench mob.
The post NLEX hands San Miguel first loss, claims solo PBA Group A lead appeared first on Tiebreaker Times.
Joseph Yeo and Chris Tiu rekindled their legendary partnership as Xavier School edged the James Yap-led Hua Siong College-Iloilo, 75-72, in Game 1 of the 40 Years Division finals of the Fil-Chinese Athletic Association Inc. on Friday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Though no longer as quick or explosive as they were in their prime, the Powersox-AcroCity-backed Xavier stars remained deadly from beyond the arc, delivering clutch baskets down the stretch to topple the defending champions in the opener of their best-of-three title series before a sizable crowd.
The Golden Stallions now stand one win away from the championship and a measure of revenge after falling to Hua Siong in last year’s finals. They can seal the title with another victory on Monday.
Yeo turned back the clock with a game-high 30 points, highlighted by four three-pointers, to outduel fellow PBA great James Yap. He scored Xavier’s final seven points, including a crucial triple that stretched the lead to 71-66 late in the contest.
Yap answered with 18 points, knocking down two booming three-pointers, but his efforts were not enough as the Lamtex Pipes-backed Hua Siong absorbed its first loss after sweeping all eight elimination-round games. Hua Siong had also cruised past GT Radial-Grace Christian College, 108-74, in the semifinals.
Tiu also played a key role in the victory, finishing with 17 points while sinking two of Xavier’s 13 three-pointers. Hua Siong, meanwhile, connected on nine triples.
In the battle for third place, Grace Christian College rolled past SCAG-St. Stephen’s, 60-40, behind Allan Anson Tan’s 20-point performance to finish third in the nine-team tournament.
With Yap struggling to find his rhythm late, Ken Bono tried to keep Hua Siong within striking distance, but Xavier would not be denied.
The league is backed by Smart Sports, Tanduay Athletics, Genius Hardware, Ultraforce Tires, Cellboy, PGFlex Linoleum, Boysen, Lamtex Pipes, Jiang Nan, Hangry Pares, Powerhouse Tools, L.F. Fireworks, BYD Valenzuela, BAIC, Jetour, Yong Kee Roasting House, 1118 Autospa, and TCL.
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Ramon Cao asserted himself in the endgame to help Macau complete a 132-126 comeback win over Titan Ultra to break through in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup, Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The reliable big man finished with 27 points and 13 rebounds as he basically took it upon himself to bring the Giant Risers home after seeing themselves staring at a 120-119 deficit with 1:52 remaining.
He scored seven straight to give themselves the 126-120 lead with 31.1 seconds left, which were enough to put them ahead permanently while the opposition could only try to answer back but to no avail
De’Vondre Perry helped him out to keep their foes at bay before Cao applied the final blow with a cleanup from point-blank as the former Bay Area Dragons forward produced 11 of Macau’s last 13 points of the bout.
With this, the guest team improved to 1-4 while sending Titan crashing back to earth after beating TNT previously.
The post PBA: Ramon Cao powers Macau’s stunning comeback to first win at Titan’s expense appeared first on Tiebreaker Times.
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