Photo from Fiba.com
Calvin Abueva is still keeping his fingers crossed on his potential inclusion back to Gilas Pilipinas, which will see action against Australia and Japan in the second window of the 2019 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers.
Abueva is hoping to make the roster, but knows that in the end, it’s still going to be coach Chot Reyes, who will have the final say.
“This is an opportunity. I accepted coach Chot’s decision wholeheartedly and whatever happens, I’ll accept it,” he said in Filipino.
Abueva has been dropped from consideration for the upcoming leg by Reyes after he and Raymond Almazan skipped the team’s first three practices this year.
He did show up in the following week on January 29 after he got cut and promised to make up for his shortcomings. Abueva has since been diligent in showing up for the trainings, missing only one session when the Aces had a game the day prior.
Still, there’s no denying that Abueva is making the most of this “second chance” participating in practices, relishing every opportunity to help the national team.
“For me, I’m just doing my best here. It’s sad that I may skip the second window, but [Gilas] is important for me,” he said.
Reyes, meanwhile, remains noncommittal if he’s going to reconsider include Abueva to his roster for the games against Australia and Japan later in Feburary, saying that as of now, everything is still status quo.
“Calvin is still part of the pool. He continues to come and practice as part of the pool just like everybody else here,” he said. “We took him out of the consideration for the second window, but he has remained part of the pool. And I’ve always said: people can play themselves into consideration, into the pool and out of the pool, or out of consideration. There’s no change there.”
Reyes reiterated he still hasn’t made up his mind as to who will comprise his 12-man lineup in Melbourne especially with some of the players hit with injuries.
“We haven’t made any decisions either way because we’re still assessing the injury status of the other guys so we’re not yet in a position to make any final decisions or determinations in the line-up,” he said.
But given the chance, Abueva vowed to do his best to redeem himself to Reyes and the national team program.
“I’m showing, the best that I can, what I was in the first window, it’s still going to be the same,” he said. “There are some players who are not here and who are injured, and if I get a chance, that would be a big thing for me and I promise that I’ll double my effort.”