It took five games before offseason acquisition Calvin Abueva made his Converge FiberXers debut—an 11-minute stint in a loss to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Friday, April 10. Even so, The Beast still tallied 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.
On Wednesday, five days later, Abueva played in only his second game, this time against the Titan Ultra Giant Risers. He was more beast-like in the win, recording 14 points on 4-for-5 shooting from downtown to go along with 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and a whole lot of energy and grit.
Abueva Isn’t Fully Ready Just Yet
While Abueva looked more like himself against Titan Ultra, he admitted afterward that he’s still working his way back.
“Parang hindi pa ako handa maglaro. ‘Yung mindset ko lang nasa paglalaro,” Abueva told reporters after the Titan game. “So, trinabaho ko ‘yung last three days bago ‘yung game na ito (vs. Titan Ultra). ‘Yung resulta mas okay. Mas gumaan, mas naging agresibo ako sa loob.”
The Beast, of course, was grounded by a hamstring issue to start the conference—and, if Abueva’s admission is any indication, he is still not all the way back.
Curiously, the 38-year-old Kapampangan also missed several games for Titan Ultra in the PBA Philippine Cup after injuring his hamstring in only his second game for the rookie franchise. Abueva eventually returned and nearly led the Giant Risers to a most improbable quarters appearance.
Converge Rounding Into Form?
Abueva’s hamstring issue is just one of the challenges the FiberXers have had to face in what has been a trying conference. Now, The Beast is seemingly starting to get in shape, Juan Gomez de Liaño appears to be moving past his own knee injury, and Mikey Williams is beginning to find his stride.
These are no doubt positive developments for Converge, who are basically faced with having to win all their remaining games if they are to make the playoffs.
Best believe The Beast will work doubly hard for this killer stretch for the FiberXers.
