Calvin Abueva bags 2021 Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference plum

Calvin Abueva’s sterling performance didn’t go unnoticed as “The Beast” was named as the Best Player of the Conference (BPC) for the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup.

The 33-year old Abueva defeated Mikey Williams of TNT, teammate Ian Sangalang, NorthPort’s Robert Bolick and San Miguel’s June Mar Fajardo to capture the conference’s highest individual award in a simple ceremony held prior to Game 4 of the Philippine Cup Finals.

The 7-time PBA All-Star came out ahead of all the candidates on the statistical points race in only his first conference with Magnolia, winning the honor for the first time since the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup when he was still with Alaska.

Abueva helped the Hotshots finish the elimination round with an 8-3 (win-loss) record, while also leading the 14-time PBA champs to playoff victories against Rain or Shine and Meralco to make a return trip to the finals.

The 2013 PBA Rookie of the Year received 934 points in the BPC tally – 415 points from statistics, 440 from media votes, 54 from players’ votes, and 25 from the PBA and narrowly beat the rookie Mikey Williams in the final count.

Williams finished 2nd in the BPC tally with 843 – 389 from statistics, 245 from media votes, 59 from players’ votes, and the highest of 150 from the PBA Commissioner’s Office.

Sangalang placed 3rd with 591 – 401 from statistics, 82 from media, 33 from players, and 75 from the PBA.

Abueva, the 2nd overall pick of the 2012 PBA Draft, averaged 16.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists during the elimination round.

Along with postseason games, Abueva currently has eight double-doubles including a 20-point, 19-rebound night against the Elasto Painters last September 30.