The last time Calvin Abueva represented the Philippines on the world stage was in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in China, where Gilas Pilipinas settled for a silver medal finish after bowing to the taller host country.
After that, the 6-foot-2 Abueva never saw action with the national squad again, after then-head coach Tab Baldwin surprisingly cut him from the Gilas XII that had competed in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament last year.
Fast forward to 2017, the pride of Angeles City, Pampanga has made his way back to where he truly belongs, and where he clearly deserves to be. The Alaska Aces star has finally returned to play for flag and country.
The opener of the tournament became his comeback party.
Abueva led the Nationals with 22 markers on a 66.6-percent shooting clip. He also displayed his all-around brilliance, grabbing six caroms, four assists, five steals, and a block in the 16:02 minutes he played.
“Ito, masaya,” shared a beaming Abueva regarding his remarkable return, moments after Gilas’ 107-point, 147-40 whipping of the young and smaller Myanmar side at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“More focused. Bigay-todo lahat. Doble effort pa!”
The players around Abueva now are different from those he had played with two years ago. But they harmoniously blended with each other right away, like they do not come from varied teams in the PBA.
And for Abueva, it was all the result of playing the right way, and the roles with which each and every one of them identified.
“Sabi lang ni coach na ‘sige, takbo lang ng takbo, basta nasa right way lang ang paglalaro niyo,'” said Abueva.
“At saka lagi namin tinatandaan na may kanya-kanya kaming roles, may kanya-kanyang spot, may kanya-kanyang ginagawa. Pero as a team [pa rin dapat ang laro].”
For the next six days, Abueva plans to continue the party.
