By Joel Orellana
ALASKA’S energetic forward Calvin Abueva could seal the Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award of the Commissioner’s Cup in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) if he could lead the Aces to a second straight finals stint.
Alaska and Meralco battled for the other championship berth in Game Five of their best-of-five semifinal series late Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The former San Sebastian College standout was the only player in the BPC race whose team made the top 4 of the midseason conference and a victory by Alaska would make him the hands-down choice for the award.
But if the Aces lost last night, two players from early finalist Rain or Shine could steal the award from Abueva if they land in the top 5 of the statistical points (SPs) average after the semifinal round.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel slotman Greg Slaughter was No. 1 in the SPs average with 34.2 after the quarterfinal stage, but the Kings were eliminated by the Elasto Painters in their best-of-three series.
Abueva was right behind the 7-foot Slaughter with 33.1 SPs average and will remain a strong contender even if Alaska fails to advance to the finals.
GlobalPort’s Terrence Romeo (33.0), Tropang TNT’s Jayson Castro (29.8) and Phoenix’s Carlo Lastimosa (28.55) and reigning Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo (28.55) rounded up the top 5. But their teams are no longer in contention.
That leaves Elasto Painters JR Quiñahan (No. 8 with 27.8 SPs average) and Jeff Chan (No. 17 with 24.6) as the possible threats to Abueva’s claim for his first BPC trophy.
Only the top 5 players in the SPs category after the semifinal stage are the official candidates for the BPC award. Quiñahan could be a dark horse, while Chan will be a long shot.
Also at stake in Game Five of the Alaska-Meralco duel was the Best Import trophy, with the Bolts’ Arinze Onuaku a cinch to win the award if he could lead the Manuel V. Pangilinan franchise to its first finals appearance.
Onuaku is the last original import standing in the Commissioner’s Cup following the exit of Tyler Wilkerson of the Beermen, NLEX’s Al Thornton and Ginebra’s Othyus Jeffers.