Baldwin sees both Abueva’s value and flaws

MANILA, Philippines – Calvin Abueva, depending on the vantage point, could be the best thing for a team, or the worst. Tab Baldwin sees both sides clearly. 

The national men’s basketball team head coach broke down what makes the energetic and controversial forward both detrimental and valuable, explaining that Abueva’s disruptive nature is good, but his antics are a drawback. 

“Calvin is Calvin. He’s always gonna try and be disruptive and that’s one of the things that makes him a valuable player,” said Baldwin, who also serves as consultant to Talk ’N Text in the PBA.

“He walks that fine line. He upsets everybody. He upsets our coaching staff, we get upset at the referees, the referees get upset at everybody. And Calvin seems to remain quite cool through the whole thing and continues to do what Calvin does.” 

Abueva, 27, was his usual rebellious self Sunday night, March 22 as Alaska tried to come back from a double-digit deficit late in the game against Talk ’N Text. He was especially working on throwing import Ivan Johnson off his game.

Those antics, which Abueva has long been infamous for since his collegiate days with San Sebastian, is what Baldwin perceives as liability.

“Antics are always a disadvantage. Competitiveness is always an advantage. So it’s up to the individual to define when competitiveness becomes antics,” Baldwin said and went on to explain how Abueva or any player can tip the scale to one side or another. 

“That’s something that Calvin has to manage with his coaches and within himself. If we’re all identifying it as antics, it’s probably a negative. But if it’s just the competitive nature then it’s something that as long as there’s discipline behind it, it’s not a disadvantage.”

Abueva was difficult to discipline by the end of Sunday night’s contest as tensions escalated between him and Johnson. The former PBA Rookie of the Year had to be literally carried away from Johnson by his coach Alex Compton at one point. But Compton also failed to restrain himself as he and Johnson had some words for each other after the final buzzer.

(READ: Alaska coach Compton apologizes for Talk ‘N Text import confrontation) 

Abueva and Johnson also tried to get to each other as teams entered the locker rooms. 

But even then, Baldwin sees beyond Abueva’s bad boy persona and looks at what he can give as a player.

“He allows that team to have so much energy through the way he plays,” he said.

“As I said, depending on your perspective, he walks a fine line. Personally I’d like to see the referees exercise a bit more influence in the game to make sure we stay away from that borderline. The players don’t need it.”

“It’s just the emotion of competition. We should expect that,” he added. “We should admire that the players care that much about the result and they play that hard.”

Baldwin is currently putting together a pool for the Gilas Pilipinas tryouts with the squad set to compete for nothing less than the gold in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in China this September.

Expressing a commitment to getting players that are more than just talented, Baldwin reportedly made efforts to approach and get to know players during the PBA All-Star Weekend in Palawan earlier this month. Among them reportedly was Abueva.

Asked if he was keen on coaching Alaska’s designated energizer bunny, Baldwin hinted nothing.

“I would be honored to coach any Filipino player,” he said smiling. – Rappler.com