Calvin Abueva no longer waited for the PBA Philippine Cup duel between rivals Magnolia and Barangay Ginebra to finish, Sunday evening.
The ‘Beast’ left the Mall of Asia Arena shortly after being thrown out of the match with 9:15 left in the fourth quarter for incurring his second technical foul. He only changed clothes in the Hotshots’ dugout, and left afterwards.
Abueva got whistled for his last T after he appeared to have taunted Kings guard Nards Pinto, who was supposed to run on the other end for a fastbreak opportunity before a stoppage of play following a foul called on him.
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The 33-year-old forward left with nine points, eight rebounds, two assists, in a steal as he played for a total of 24 minutes and 24 seconds.
It was totally a downer for the reigning BPC, who vowed that he will make up for his quiet showing in their loss against San Miguel last Friday.
Still, Magnolia managed to buck his absence as it weathered the Barangay’s late-game rally for the 89–84 win to bounce back.
Head coach Chito Victolero did not have any idea that Abueva left that early, but said that the latter did so likely due to sheer frustration.
“Naka-focus kami sa game namin, so hindi namin alam,” he said. “But you know, we’ll talk to the guy. Maybe, frustrated lang siguro si Calvin, because of ‘yung nangyari. But we will try, we will move on, we will move forward.”
Ian Sangalang, who earned Player of the Game honors after posting 24 points and nine rebounds, echoed his mentor’s sentiments.
“Siguro ‘yun nga, tama nga si coach, medyo frustrated lang si Calvin in this game. Siguro hindi naman niya din gusto ‘yung nangyari,” he said.
With that, the 6-foot-7 slotman said that he will try to talk things over with his ‘kabalen,’ believing that he’ll easily listen to what he will say.
“Siguro bukas or mamaya, makakausap ko naman si Calvin. Madali lang naman ngayong sabihan si Calvin. Nakikinig naman siya,” Sangalang said.
“Nakita naman namin kung paano siya nagbago dito sa team na ‘to, kasi never na siyang nawala, never na siyang nag-absent. So naniniwala ako na kaya kong i-handle ‘yang si Calvin,” added the 30-year-old.
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