ABUEVA TRADE SHOCKS ALAS
Louie Alas claimed that he was shocked when Phoenix Super LPG traded Calvin Abueva to Magnolia heading into the 46th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Alas, who coached the Fuel Masters before Topex Robinson took over, said the trade caught him by surprise since Abueva displayed impressive performance during the Philippine Cup inside a quarantine bubble in Clark last year.
He said the Fuel Masters could have exerted a little patience in dealing with Abueva, who reportedly went back to his old ways of missing practices and team meetings that led to his trade for Chris Banchero and two draft picks in the Annual Rookie Draft on 14 March.
“I was really surprised when he got traded because, given his performance inside the bubble, a trade would be the last thing you would think,” Alas told Daily Tribune in a telephone conversation.
“It was also hard for me to see him leave Phoenix, but there were really some instances that Calvin would suddenly leave the team. We just talk about it and move on.”
Alas and Abueva go a long way.
Aside from clashing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association when Alas was still coaching Letran College and Abueva was still playing for San Sebastian College, they were together at Alaska, which drafted the mercurial forward with the second overall pick in 2012. Then, they reunited at Phoenix when it traded for Abueva in 2018 in exchange for Karl Dehesa and the first-round pick of the 2019 draft.
Alas, however, got fired days before the start of the Philippine Cup last year while the league reinstated Abueva following a 16-month suspension. “Calvin will always be Calvin,” the seasoned mentor said.
“Back then, I will just talk to him about it. If ever he misses a practice, we would just impose a fine on him in accordance to the guidelines of the team.” Alas said when the trade broke out last Wednesday, he quickly messaged his former player, telling him how sorry he was to see him leave the Fuel Masters, especially now that they are blossoming into one of the most consistent teams in the league.
“I told him that I’m really sorry about the news since everything that he worked hard for the past couple of years would go down the drain,” Alas said.
“I did not dwell on the reason behind his trade. I know he would discuss it to me when the time is right.”
LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Los Angeles Lakers star forward Anthony Davis will miss at least another four weeks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) season with a right Achilles tendon injury, Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.
The 27-year-old American aggravated the nagging injury last Sunday at Denver and left the 122-105 loss early.
He’s going to be out for four weeks.
A magnetic resonance imaging test revealed no structural damage, but the reigning NBA champions had doctors re-evaluate Davis and don’t want to take any chances of making things worse.
“He’s going to be out for four weeks,” Vogel said. “We want to try to put this fully behind him, be conservative with it just to make sure it’s fully healed before he’s back.”
The Lakers fell to 22-8 with a 109-98 home loss to Brooklyn, which was without star forward Kevin Durant due to a hamstring strain. Davis has averaged 22.5 points and 8.4 rebounds a game, reduced numbers that might in part be blamed on the injury.
Without him, the Lakers’ scoring average drops and defensive figures worsen as well.
Another setback that struck the Lakers just before Friday’s loss was having guard Dennis Schroder joining the NBA’s
Covid-19 safety protocols list.
The Lakers play seven more games before the mid-season NBA All-Star Game break in March.
While the schedule has not been announced for beyond the break, the Lakers would have another 10 days or so without Davis under
Vogel’s timetable.
Davis, who helped the United States capture
Olympic gold in 2012 at London, was traded from New Orleans to the Lakers in 2019 and last season combined with LeBron James to spark
Los Angeles to the NBA title.
He signed a five-year deal worth $190 million last December to stay
with the Lakers.