Rookie Calvin Abueva of Alaska and veteran Barangay Ginebra playmaker LA Tenorio, the main cogs of the Aces and the Gin Kings battling for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup title, will also be chasing personal glory as well.
The two are locked in a neck-and-neck race for the Best Player of the Conference award, with no more than two-tenths of a statistical point separating them in the standings after the Final Four.
Abueva, the 6-foot-1 former San Sebastian ace who has given Alaska the fire and energy it sorely lacked in the past, is leading the race with a statistical points-average of 28.5 after 19 games played.
Tenorio, the heady point guard who has assumed the mantle of leadership for the Gin Kings ever since Mark Caguioa got injured, has a 28.3 average even as another Alaska star, JV Casio, cracked the Top 5 and now stood at No. 4 with a 25.4 average.
Voting for the Best Player award started before Game 1 last night at Smart Araneta Coliseum as the league usually hands out the individual accolades before Game 3 on Sunday, including the Best Import award now named the Bobby Parks trophy.
Eric Dawson of ousted Meralco routed everyone in the statistical points race for the Bobby Parks award, finishing with 53.9 SP average after averaging a league-best 29.6 points, 16 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 3.1 steals and 1.9 shot blocks in 17 games for the Bolts.
But the ouster of Meralco by San Mig Coffee in the quarterfinals shut the door on the versatile Dawson, leaving the fight to Alaska’s Robert Dozier and Ginebra’s Vernon Macklin, who finished 2-3 in the SP race.
After shooting 20.4 points and grabbing an average of 17.1 rebounds in 19 games for the Aces, Dozier has a 47.5 SP average, while Macklin, who came in four games into the tournament for the Kings, has a 46.0 SP average on norms of 23.7 points and 14.8 rebounds.