There was a palpable level of excitement in the crowd Sunday night at the Ynares Sports Arena before the start of the PBA On Tour game between Magnolia Hotshots and San Miguel Beermen.
When the Hotshots emerged for their pregame warm-ups, crowd noise increased several notches as fans caught sight of a familiar face wearing his No. 13 jersey.
The moment they had been waiting for in this preseason tournament was finally here. After a long layoff, 'The Beast' was finally back.
Calvin Abueva, easily one of the league's most popular players, made his first appearance on the Tour, and he didn't disappoint in the Hotshots' 94-65 win. He delivered one of his trademark performances to help Magnolia remain unbeaten in the preseason.
He last played on March 22, when the Hotshots were ousted by Meralco Bolts in the quarterfinals of the 2022-23 Governors' Cup. He spent the next months rehabilitating a knee injury, and when the Tour was announced, there was no guarantee he would see action even though he was included in the Hotshots' roster. But when news broke last week that he would play against the Beermen, this game suddenly became must-see.
Abueva immediately got in on the action when he checked in at the 7:16 mark in the first quarter; crashing the boards for an offensive rebound and getting to the line for a split. Hotshots coach Chito Victolero managed his minutes, inserting him and then subbing him out several times. Each time he appeared, the crowd would chant his name.
All in all, Abueva played just 19 minutes and scored nine points, but he grabbed a Beast-like 16 rebounds. There were signs of rust, though, as he went just 3-of-8 on free throws.
"Medyo gigil, but he helped us in the rebounding aspect of the game," said Victolero. "He's on limited minutes. Every 4-5 minutes, we have to take him out no matter how he's playing. We're just trying to break in his game. And his timing...but he's doing well."
Victolero said he didn't expect Abueva to be that productive off the boards.
"But that's Calvin. Once you put him on the floor, he can do so much. We just have to limit his minutes and at the same time he needs to get into what we're trying to do. I think he needs more games to get his timing. He had a lot of point-blank range shots that he missed."
Abueva admitted he was excited to finally play, and that he was just happy to help the team extend its winning streak.
"I don't know what level my game is right now but I'll do my best," he said in Tagalog. "7-0 in the preseason, at least I didn't wreck their momentum."
After playing his first competitive game in nearly four months, Abueva said he didn't feel winded.
"It's OK. I only needed a small amount of wind. I'll place [my conditioning] at 70 [percent]. I still lack 30. But that doesn't mean that I won't go 100 percent this preseason. We just need to make sure what we're doing in the preseason, we can carry over to the regular season."
Abueva added he still feels a slight tinge of discomfort in his knee, but he won't let it slow him down.
"Right now, it's good. There's still a little pain, maybe 5-10 percent, but I don't think about that. I just want to win."
The Hotshots still have three games left in the Tour, and fans will surely hope the Beast gets more time. Victolero, though, doesn't want to make any promises about increasing his minutes.
"It depends on the situation and the game. Let's see. But everybody's buying into the system, buying into our goals. They're very committed."