Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Though he refuses to be branded as one of the elder statesman in Gilas Pilipinas, Calvin Abueva knows the duties that entails him and his fellow national team veterans as they gear up for the 2017 Seaba Championships in May.
“I’m 29 years old and I know I’m not that veteran yet, but for us players who have played in the previous national teams—me, Jayson (Castro), (June Mar) Fajardo—we know we have to do our job, which is to provide the understanding to guide our younger teammates,” he said in Filipino.
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Pegged as one of the leaders in this youth-laden national team, Abueva is looking forward to putting his words into action in the squad’s first set of tuneups in the 2017 PBA All-Star Week, where the national team pool will wage war against the collection of PBA All-Stars from April 26 to 30.
“This will be our warmup as we prepare for the upcoming Seaba (Championships). This is where we will try to execute the things coach Chot (Reyes) asks from us, like the dribble-drive (offense). Those are the things that we need to do,” he said.
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Abueva also believes that with the team about to start daily practice sessions, it will further foster camaraderie among the team which he hopes will already be solid come May.
“The All-Star is a great opportunity for us. We have already started our preparation and we hope that when the Seaba comes, it will be complete,” he said. “Also, we have to give it our all to our fans.”
The energetic forward also shared that one of the main goals for them holdovers is to ingrain the meaning of donning the national tri-colors to the newcomers, saying, “When you play for Gilas, it’s really a big responsibility.”