Abueva claims better shooting due to Gilas stint

MANILA, Philippines – After just two weeks of practice with Gilas Pilipinas, flamboyant Alaska forward Calvin Abueva felt a marked improvement on his outside shooting as he worked alongside some of the national pool’s top gunners like Jayson Castro, Jimmy Alapag, Terrence Romeo and Aces teammate Dondon Hontiveros.

“Parang ang daming nangyari sa akin after two weeks.  Ang daming nagbago like yung shooting ko saka parang mas naging mabilis ako,” Abueva confided to Philstar.com just before leaving with the Gilas squad for Estonia on Monday.

And though the rejigged Gilas side has no June Mar Fajardo, Marc Pingris, Jeff Chan and Paul Lee to rely on, Abueva is happy because he has the chance to show what he can do for the Philippines.

In fact, the undersized Aces wingman stressed that playing for the national team has been one of his childhood dreams.

“Siyempre masaya ako dahil na-appreciate nila (Gilas players and coaching staff) pagdating namin,” beamed ‘the Beast’.

“Masaya din ako napasali ako dito (Gilas). Ito na yung dream ko na mapasali din ako.”

Abueva has faced bigger, stronger opponents for the past two years after participating in the Fiba 3x3 Manila leg tournaments.

But the 27-year-old former NCAA MVP expects the games in Estonia, Jones Cup, the MVP Cup and the Fiba-Asia cage joust to be extremely tough.

“Once makalaro ko sila (foreign opponents), dun ko malalaman paano ko sila lalaruin,” he said.

“Sa PBA kasi, sa three years ko, mas alam mo na paano sila laruin dahil napapanuod mo sila. Pero di magiging madali ito. Kailangang pag-trabahuhan ito,” added Abueva.

Gilas faces Iceland, the Netherlands and Estonia in its three-game schedule in Northern Europe before flying back to Manila next Monday.