Allan Abelgas - A Future PBA Superstar? (Sports Weekly, 1982)

Sports Weekly Magazine

November 19-26, 1982

Barry Pascua

 

 

            Allan Abelgas broke into the professional basketball circuit as unheralded as a mild breezed sweeping through an untested wilderness. That he was not like the breeze that tickled the yielding weeds and left all in a fraction of forty winks, Allan Abelgas came and stayed.

 

            To be frank about it, most PBA fans only knew Abelgas by his surname. Many kept on guessing what his first name was. But that wasn’t what made Abelgas popular. First name or no first name, he deserved closer scrutiny. After all, with the many big name amateur standouts in the N-Rich cast, fans were eager to discover Abelgas’ credentials. But Abelgas didn’t have to show them written records or video-taped testimonies to prove that he deserved inclusion in the N-Rich lineup. All he had to do was play.

 

            Indeed, Allan Abelgas merited a place in the Coffee Creamers’ camp. He is a court general and a shooting guard rolled into one. If he was taken in just to warm the bench, how could one explain his being utilized by coach Mariano more often than the other established guards?

 

            Allan Abelgas, 5’9, was born on June 30, 1959 in Cebu City to Larry Abelgas and the former Precy Pagusara. His father, a former radioman working for Cebu RPN 9, is now an Advertising Production man. Being the eldest of 10 kids (four boys and six girls), it seemed that Allan wouldn’t find time to sports activities. Any way you look at it, he’ll probably be preoccupied helping the parents take care of the younger kids – all nine of them. But somewhere, somehow, he and basketball forged a companionship destined to last for a long, long time. But he wasn’t alone when he decided to get into basketball. His grandfather, Ramon Pagusara, Sr. and his uncle, Rodolfo Gilig, a former Mariwasa standout during the old MICAA days, inspired him to play basketball. From then on came the rough road to recognition. For four years, he dribbled with the Eagles of Sacred Heart High School. The little know-how he possessed was enhanced by his coach, Manuel Baz.

 

            Allan proceeded to the Colegio de San Juan Recoletos, and played for the CSJR Jaguars while taking up BS Industrial Engineering. His playing style was polished by coach Manuel Baring, Sr. And the next thing is hard to believe. In a span of three years, 1980-1982, Alln won five MVP awards. He was truly a devastating cager in the Cebu Amateur Athletic Association (CAAA).

 

            When Orly Bauzon went scouting for players in Cebu, he spotted Allan during one CAAA game. And Orly knows star material when he sees one. “My Presto team in the MICAA was crippled as a result of most of my team turning pro. That’s why I had to scout for players. I went to Cebu and had the opportunity of watching a CAAA game. There, I saw Allan. I approached him and we talked about playing terms. He was supposed to play for my team in the Interclub early this year but he insisted on playing after graduation,” said Bauzon.

 

            “Allan has a different approach to basketball. He has a more matured style compared to his peers. He’s a good court general and a real pro inside and outside the court,” Orly added.

 

            Allan is a guy who gives more preference to his studies. For this was the deal he made with his parents. “At first, my parents objected to my extra-curricular activity. They didn’t want me to play basketball because it might come in conflict with my studies. But I assured them it would not. So they changed their minds and told me to go on,” recalls Allan.

 

            And so Allan waited for graduation day which came last April. After getting his diploma, he packed his bags and went to Manila only to discover that the MICAA was dead and N-Rich had no farm team. If it had happened to any other regular guy, it could have been a sob story. But it happened to Allan Abelgas and one couldn’t simply turn him away. He was made to practice with the PBA team and after four months, he got his release papers and debuted with league-leading Coffee Creamers.

 

            How does he feel now that he’s in the pro league? “I’m learning. Iba yung sa amateur. I’m still adjusting. I have, somehow, lost the confidence but I’m trying to regain it. Among the good players, you always tend to feel inferior. At any rate, everybody’s helping out,” Allan said with nary a trace of a Visayan accent. Allan added, “I’m just trying to find out what’s in store for me in basketball. If it’s not good, I’ll use my diploma. If it’s good, I’ll play until I’m 32.”

 

 

 

            Among his favorites in the PBA are Mike Bilbao for his coolness, Willie Generalao for his court generalship, Bernard Fabiosa for his quickness and Bogs Adornado for his shooting arm.

 

            Regarding his coach, Allan noted that “Mariano’s careful with his boys and he sees to it that he fields in the more conditioned ones.”

 

            In turn, Jimmy Mariano described Allan as “a young cager with a lot of promise, a potential superstar. I think the boy is really serious about his profession.”

 

            N-Rich skipper Joel Banal has also the same line. “He’s a compleat player. He has shooting, speed, defense, attitude and determination. Kaya lang, wala sa timing. Pero matututunan din niya yon. If he learns when to execute a shot or any basketball stance, he’ll be a more important player.”

 

            Allan is quite fortunate for he got the chance to play for N-Rich during of the team’s best seasons, and not during the doormat days. “I’ve seen this team from Great Taste to N-Rich. As N-Rich, it’s a much better team. At the rate things are shaping up, I think we have a good chance of copping the championship trophy. The CFC management is fully supporting the basketball team.”

 

            Allan Abelgas is having a good time in the hardcourt. Indeed, anyone playing for a league leading team would. For Allan, the best is yet to come. Nevertheless, slowly but surely, this man from Cebu, just like his predecessors, is making a name for himself in local basketball. And if only for his being from the south, Allan Abelgas, many are certain “Allan Abelgas will be a name to reckon with.”

To Raise Moral (Sports World, 1974)

Sports World Magazine

November 23, 1974

Beth Celis

 

 

            At last, they’re forming a professional basketball league.

 

            Good. Now there is a chance to restore morality to Philippine basketball.

 

            The eight breakaway MICAA teams – Mariwasa, Crispa, Toyota, YCO, Concepcion, U/Tex, Seven-Up, and CFC – led by no less than the association’s former president (Domingo Itchon of YCO) and current president (Mariwasa’s Emerson Coseteng) have declared they’re going pro in order to “clarify” the status of their players and of the league itself.

 

            The BAP, on the other hand, wants a “transition” period. In other words, they want more time under the status quo.

 

            And the BAP argument is based on their fear, a valid one, of course, that national representation will suddenly become much weaker until stronger amateurs can be developed by a more competent development program.

 

            The argument is couched in moral terms, naturally. One side speaks of “honesty,” the other of “patriotism.” 

 

 

 

            But we all know that the breakaway MICAA teams simply, finally got fed up with the BAP’s honing in on the playing time of the best MICAA players. And playing time means money at the gate and from TV.

 

            Remember when the BAP wanted to ban the champion ABC players from playing in the MICAA from December, 1973 to July, 1974 because the BAP said, they wanted to keep training the team for the Puerto Rico games? That would have been eight months of fundraising games for the BAP.

 

            The MICAA hasn’t issued any income announcements, but the players know that its take went down this year owing to frequent BAP requisitions of playing time.

 

            So, if you go behind the value-attached terminology (such as “amateurism” and “patriotism”), what you get is a struggle over income between the MICAA teams and the BAP. And the BAP, it turns out, will be the loser since its position is basically parasitic and usurping.

 

            Doming Itchon told us that it won’t take six months before the pro league gets going. They’re waiting for the papers from the NBA so they’ll profit from the American experience. But at the same time, their local preparations are also quite advanced. As he says, it won’t take six months.

 

            One good sign is that the organizers are concerned over the moral aspects of pro basketball. According to Itchon, they would want the players to consult their lawyers before signing contracts with their respective teams.

 

            This is the current attitude. The overwhelming majority of MICAA players want a professional league, but there are also others who have a wait and see attitude. Their reason?

 

            “If the terms of our contract with a pro team are just going to be the same as with the MICAA teams at present, there will be no improvement really.”

 

            This is from a leader among the players.

 

            But it seems that the pro league’s organizers, judging from Mr. Itchon’s statement, are out to do justice to the players.

 

            That’s a very crucial point. It should lay the basis for a moral attitude towards every other aspect of pro basketball in the Philippines. Another word would be “honesty” – it should be an honest to goodness professional league and not just an escape from the clutches of the BAP.

 

            Nobody could really complain about certain irregularities in the MICAA, or in other amateur leagues, for that matter. An organization, for example, could not be criticized for recruiting only mediocre players. And players could not be concretely faulted for holding back. After all, there are more “important” things than amateur play.

 

 

 

            But a pro league will be different. A much higher standard of competence and, yes, morality will be demanded by the public. For the public will be paying for entertainment. Juan Dela Cruz in the bleachers will be a customer, not just a spectator as in amateur sports.

 

            That will mean he will have a right to demand more balanced teams, better conditioned players, more knowledgeable coaches, better officiating, better coliseum facilities, more competent league leadership (such as keeping of statistics), more professional behavior from the players, etc.

 

            The public will henceforth be paying customers. They’ll be more demanding than the present “audience” who can’t really kick about shortcomings in “amateur” circumstances.

 

            In short, there will be a morality to professional basketball, the obligation to give a good and honest show. Since this is basketball country, I’m betting that the pro league will do a good job.

 

            The technical level of basketball will improve, just as the NBA has raised the level not only in the United States but all over the world. We’ll be seeing the exciting return of imported American players. Playing for real money, the pros will have to be and they will be better (At present, the only truly full-time team is the Crispa Redmanizers).

 

            From the point of view of basketball, we like what’s coming. In less than six months.

Adornado: A Closeup (Sports World, 1973)

Sports World Magazine

May 12, 1973

 

 

            It was the 1967 Inter-Secondary basketball end of competitions at the Rizal Coliseum. On the floor were the Divine Word College five of Legaspi City and the De La Salle juniors. One of the Greenies was Mike Bilbao, who later was to earn his spurs as a full-fledged Mariwasa-Akai Recorder.

 

            But the fellow who attracted the most attention was a Bicolano standing six feet tall who had one of the sweetest jump shots this side of the Pacific. He was plunking in baskets with authority and some questions elicited the fact that back home in the port city of Legaspi, the kid averaged some 25 points per game, with a high of 48.

 

            The following year, the kid was trying out with University of Santo Tomas’ varsity five under Rogelio Serafico. He was not recruited. He just tried out and made it. That year, he was a University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) senior, together with – among others – Lawrence Mumar, George Lizares and Andrew Malkinson.

 

            Five years later, they were to play in the same tournament but under different banners. In the 1973 National Seniors, Mumar was with Universal Textile, Lizares with Mariwasa, Malkinson with Jewels Athletic Club and William Adornado with a Crispa team that was trying to recover from the forcible loss of six stalwarts.

 

 

 

            Without Danilo Florencio and Adriano Papa on the forward line, Crispa coach Virgilio (Baby) Dalupan turned to Adornado to supply the needed firepower that might generate a barrage that would flatten all opposition as the old battery did. The pressure was on “Bogs” Adornado to deliver or face up to what many thought was fact – that Adornado without Florencio and Papa cannot deliver.

 

            And Adornado went all out to try and fill the shoes of the two, in the process, burning the oops for 238 points in nine games for a lofty average of 26.44, and scoring a rare double by collaring free throw honors too with a .941 rate of conversion, including a string of 26 hits before winding up with 32 out of 34.

 

            Looking back at it all, tall (6’2), well-set (170 lbs.), Willie Adornado, curly top, at-times wayward left eye (banlag) and all, couldn’t keep from laughing.

 

            “My coach now (Baby Dalupan) is the same guy who tried to have me muzzled during my UAAP days,” he said. And his top partner in UAAP scoring, Larry Mumar, is now one of his keenest rivals in scoring.

Big J Back on Top and How (Sports World, 1973)

Sports World

April 28, 1973

 

 

            The Komatsu Komets still have to win a game after six tries, an exhibition and five tournament tilts. But they can derive some consolation from the fact that in the Panamin Invitational Tournament just concluded, they at least had the best shot in Robert (Bobby) Jaworski, who buried the hoops oat a 24.80 points per game clip.

 

            Of his total, Jaworski averaged 10 field goals in a game, and his production from the 15-foot line was nothing to sneeze at, a solid 24 out of 26 tries.

 

 

 

            Bobby Jaworski’s failure to sweep all scoring honors was only because YCO’s Valerio Delos Santos shot a perfect 12 out of 12 in the free throw department and Mariwasa’s Narciso Bernardo bested by a point Jaworski’s single-game record, Bernardo going for 31 against YCO.

 

            Delos Santos earned free throw honors when Crispa’s Fortunato Co finally missed a charity shot in his last game for a 15 out of 16 clip.

 

            Team-wise, YCO was tops in free throw conversions although only third best in offense as well as in defense.

 

            Actually, YCO won the Panamin title on a seconds-to-go conversion by speedster, Freddie Webb that led to a 105-103 win against Mariwasa.

 

            Newly-crowned National Seniors champion San Miguel Corporation went through the Panamin still in a celebrating mood; the Braves lost four of five games, including a prestige match against Mariwasa decided by a jumpshot by Ramon Lucindo with just two seconds to go, 87-86.