ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Proud Kapampangan Calvin Abueva hoping for the best after disappointing PBA stint last year

Proud Kapampangan Calvin Abueva hoping for the best after disappointing PBA stint last year

Published Sep 8, 2021 08:03 pm

Photo from PBA

Magnolia Pambansang Manok Calvin Abueva is hoping that the latest PBA stop in his home province of Pampanga will eventually translate into something fruitful compared to last year’s campaign.

“Very excited kasi nung last bubble naka-semis tapos nadisgrasya. Then ngayon, at least second chance na makapunta ulit doon. At di lang yun, sana makuha namin to,” Abueva said after the Hotshots sneaked out a 113-106 double overtime win over the NLEX Road Warriors in Bacolor.

The PBA is currently in its second week of hostilities in Pampanga, opting to hold the games inside the campus of Don Honorio Ventura State University.

Under a semi-bubble concept, there’s an obvious difference between now and last year’s Philippine Cup when the PBA implemented a full bubble at Quest Hotel in Clark and Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center in Angeles City.

Last season, Abueva’s bid for a grand climax to his return from an indefinite suspension was thwarted when Phoenix Super LPG, his team then, lost to TNT in a hard-fought semifinal series that went the full five games.

But that would turn out to be Abueva’s last appearance in a Phoenix uniform as management traded him to Magnolia in an offseason trade, immediately installing the Hotshots as one of the teams to beat.

Magnolia did start the conference with four straight wins last July at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City. But the Bacolor sojourn hasn’t been easy as the Hotshots dropped two of their first three games at DHVSU to top four teams Meralco and TNT.

The Hotshots blew a 13-point lead in the final two minutes before dropping a 95-94 decision to the Bolts before falling 83-76 to then-unbeaten Tropang Giga.

NLEX nearly extended Magnolia’s woes, leading by 17 early in the fourth before the Hotshots came back and eventually needed two five-minute periods to emerge victorious.

Abueva summed up the challenges the Hotshots, who are in second place at 6-2 with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters next on the schedule Friday, Sept. 10 and the NorthPort Batang Pier and San Miguel Beermen also on tap, need to hurdle in order to give themselves a good shot at winning it all.

“Hindi namin madaling makukuha to at paghihirapan namin to,” he said. “Halos aakyatin namin ang Pinatubo para makalusot kami dito sa mga team na to.”

Related Tags

Calvin Abueva Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok PBA Philippine Cup pba
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.