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.

MICAA '73: A Postscript - Heroes, Highlights of a Stormy Season (Sports World, 1973)

Sports World Magazine

September 8, 1973

E.A. Perez de Tagle

 

 

It’s what could have been time for the MICAA, and Sports World pinpoints five incidents which in no little way contributed to Toyota’s magnificent triumph in its maiden year and only in its third tournament (including the time it played as Komatsu).

 

These are:

 

1.     The decommissioning of Willie Adornado of Crispa on a fractured left hand for seven games.

 

2.    The banning for life of Rudy Soriano and Rey Franco of Crispa.

 

3.    “Lax officiating” in the second game between YCO and Universal Textile.

 

4.    Orly Bauzon’s “Shot of the Year” without which Toyota would have made an early exit during the Comets’ semifinal playoff with San Miguel Corporation.

 

5.    Roger Melencio’s suffering a fractured rib in the second game of the championship series and his being lost to the Concepcion cause in the rubber match.

 

The 1973 MICAA campaign was, as far as memory serves, the most extensive, with two round-robins among 10 teams for an average of 18 games per team. As recounted in last week’s issue, Manila Bank played 15 and forfeited three, Squibb, CFC, Crispa, Mariwasa and U/Tex with 18 each: SMC 22, Yco 23, and both Toyota and Concepcion 24 each.

 

During which Mariwasa, the defending champion, strung up five wins in a row only to lose eight of its nine succeeding games including a 95-85 upset by Manilabank and finish seventh from the top. And Ciso Bernardo’s Consolidated Foods Corporation quintet upset SMC, 87-80 only to yield to Squibb’s only victory in the campaign in the Prestos’ very next outing by 92-91.

 

As the semifinalists took over, Squibb stood at 1-17, Manilabank 3-15, CFC 4-14, Mariwasa 8-10, Crispa 10-8 and U/Tex 11-7.

 

Crispa was the antonym of luck personified. With four wins behind them, the Redmanizers were leading the Concepcion Motorolas when Bogs Adornado tripped off Jimmy Noblezada. The resulting fall fractured Adornado’s left hand and Crispa went on to lose the game and five of their next seven.

 

Then, with Adornado back in the lineup and the Crispans still in contention, Rudy Soriano and Rey Franco were adjudged guilty of point-shaving in games played during the MICAA All-Filipino and they joined six other Crispans previously banned for life in the sidelines. Without them, Crispa lost two of its last three games and finished two games out of fourth place.

 

 

 

Note that before the Adornado disaster, the Redmanizers had whipped Toyota, 80-78 and YCO, 81-69; that Danny Floro’s charges only lost to SMC in overtime, 88-86 (with Soriano and SMC’s Boy Velasco being thrown out of the game for exchanging blows, each getting automatic three-game suspensions), and by 94-92 the next time around. (Crispa’s luck continued to sour even after the league ended. One of its mainstays, Fortunato Co, was found guilty of point-shaving and joined the ranks of the banned. Comparatively luckier were Jesse Sullano of Mariwasa and Ramon Lucindo of Concepcion, who each drew one-year suspensions for failing to notify basketball authorities of attempts to bribe them into shaving points.)

 

Crispa with an intact lineup would have been a tough match for any MICAA team.

 

U/Tex had the bad luck of starting off against top competition and lost four in a row before notching a first win. It was 4-5 coming home, when the Weavers started playing the games of their lives. First, Concepcion 81-78, next Toyota 82-76, then SMC 78-71.

 

U/Tex was in the process of adding YCO to its list of victims when Coach Lauro Mumar at a crucial point of the game recalled son Lawrence to the bench and kept him there. Without Larry, the Weavers fast lost ground and U/Tex absorbed one of only two defeats in second-time-around play.

 

Mumar explained afterwards that he took Larry out “to save him from mayhem.”

 

U/Tex finished a win shy of figuring in a fourth place playoff with Concecpion and SMC, and the last was seen – for the tournament – of Bay Mumar’s patented slowbreak tactics.

 

The Braves were ahead, 76-75, with seven seconds to play when the Comets made their last play. It was the second game of the semifinal playoff between SMC and Toyota, with the Braves toting a 70-62 first win. Alberto Reynoso dribbled toward goal and the SMC defense drifted with him. Reynoso passed back, to Orly Bauzon. With the big bulk of Big Boy as screen, Bauzon had a clear view of the basket. He jumped, and his basket in the last four seconds of play gave Toyota a 77-76 victory.

 

Toyota was back in the race, and there was no stopping the Comets from there.

 

(Joy) Dionisio did a Bauzon in the second game of the championship playoff series to give Concepcion a 73-72 triumph. The shot also came in the last four seconds, a lay-in after Dionisio managed to spin away from Bauzon.

 

But Melencio was under an x-ray apparatus at the Makati Medical Center and the attending doctor’s worst fear was realized: the 10^th rib on the left side was fractured. He had rammed against the massive leg of Big Boy on a lay-up and crashed to the floor with a thud.

 

Without Melencio, the Concepcion defense lost cohesiveness and the triumvirate of Big Boy Reynoso, Ed Camus and Mon Fernandez dominated the backboards in the finale, and only Concepcion obstinacy and never-say-die spirit made it a game until the last quarter when the Comets decisively pulled away.

 

 

Team Profile – Toyota: Shaky Start, Stretch Drive (Sports World, 1973)

Sports World Magazine

August 11-17, 1973

E.A. Perez De Tagle

It was as big a bash as could be, had any old noontime that press conference that was to propel the Komatsu Komets into the limelight of bigtime Philippine basketball last week of March. Only, it was not to be, because the morning dailies carried the news that Komatsu, together with E.R. Squibb and Consolidated Foods Corporation was still outside the MICAA looking in. So all there was for newsmen that day were a terrific lunch, a more terrific bevy of beauties, and Dante Silverio, wearing instead of familiar garb as one of motor racing’s aces a barong with the new bodyfit cut – affable, somewhat apologetic, at the abrupt turn of events but determined to make as good a go of the affair as could be.

 

If the frustration hurt, Dante didn’t show it. The show went on and the brand-new Komets were introduced.

Robert Jaworski, Alberto Reynoso, Fortunato Acuña, Francis Arnaiz, Cristino Reynoso, Ramon Fernandez, Rodolfo Segura, Ulysses Rodriguez, Edilberto Canamo, Edward Camus. That was nearly five months ago.

 

When the team was formed, Jaworski and Big Boy Reynoso were not yet sure they could play in the MICAA for they were nine months away from completing a two-year suspension for going after referees rather than the goal. The word was that the MICAA, regardless of how it acted on Komatsu et al’s petition for reconsideration, would insist in the event Komatsu was accepted that the two fully serve out their suspension.

 

All of which is water under the bridge. The MICAA reconsidered and took in all three teams. The MICAA also reconsidered and allowed the Big J and Big Boy to play. And now, Komatsu turned Toyota and Komets turned Comets are on the verge of a Cinderella finish in their first year of action.

 

But if anybody should say that all it takes to win a championship is to get Jaworski, Reynoso, Bauzon, Fernandez, Segura, Arnaiz and mix, Dante Silverio will be first to say not on your life. For the making of a team, he found out (Toyota Coach Claustro Verona whom everybody calls Nilo being a veteran cager knew all time) meant a lot of sweating it out. Practice, practice and more practice. Exposure to competition – the team grabbed every opportunity to play.

 

A good word from friends went for an invitation to join in from the Panamin organizer, Manda Elizalde. And Toyota (as Komatsu) was in its first tournament.

Was there a fairy godmother? Did the slipper fit? If there was, she didn’t show, and the slipper was big enough to wobble in. In other words, the guys now known as Comets dropped five games in a row to bring up the rear in the standings with YCO winning the crown.

 

The next tournament – the National Invitational – the Comets sat out, and they would have sat out the last meet for the 1972-73 season, too – the Palarong Pilipino – but for the failure of the UAAP to field a complete team. The university selection was scrapped, and Toyota moved into the slot.

 

It was much the same glory for their first game as they lost to Mariwasa, 79-84. But Bauzon was now playing together with Fernandez whom San Miguel Corporation decided to release. SMC must have rued it for Toyota scored Victory No. 1 in official play against the SMC Braves, 73-66.

 

Crispa and Concepcion prevailed against the newcomer, but the Comets dashed the NCAA selection, 102-77, and humbled YCO, 87-82, for a 3-3 showing. Dante and Co. were ready for the MICAA.

 

Saddled early with a setback (by Crispa) after an initial win against Universal Textile on MICAA opening day, June 3, the Comets next won six of seven matches to finish the first half of the marathon 18-game preliminary round second from the top on a 7-2 record, bettered only by YCO’s 8-1.

 

 

Like some other big teams, Toyota fell victim to Lauro Mumar’s foxy tactics in second half play, but as of this writing, appear certain of second place in qualifying round standings. At worst, it would figure in a three-way tie for second with Concepcion and SMC, a win in its last two games will cement second place, behind YCO which definitely has nailed first place regardless of the outcome of the Painters’ game with the Comets Thursday.

 

Why has Toyota progressed from whipping boy to championship form in just a matter of months? It was just a matter of weaving the team together, Nilo Verona would tell you. For the team on paper had everything: height in Fernandez, Camus, Jaworski, the Reynoso brothers, Bauzon, Acuña, Segura, Carlos Concepcion. Bauzon, Jaworski and Arnaiz can be excellent as court generals. Further, Toyota’s tall men except for Big Boy and a couple of others are fast and rugged.

 

Segura is beginning to blossom into a receiving whiz. Arnaiz’s outside shooting is deadly, Jaworski, despite a tendency to go individualistic, is not the Big J for nothing: he has the shots, the drive, the speed, the bulk. So long as he controls his temper, he is among the very best.

 

Big Boy, despite a bulging middle, has shown he is the best exponent of the hook – with either hand – hereabouts. His give-and-go plays with younger brother, Cristino, shattered many a tight defense.

 

Fernandez is impeccable when he wants to be. Belligerent to the point of hurting at first, he has foregone rough play in his last few games (his latest tactic was harmless: he tickled Fortunato Co just under the right floating rib everytime the Fortune Cookie kid had the ball) and concentrated on assists, at which he is smooth and slick.

 

Bauzon, seemingly relutctant to take shots because of so many good shots around is among the best spotters when he decides to take aim. A little encouragement from Verona is probably what Bauzon needs to start pumping in those long toms of his.

 

Sunday night, just after YCO throttled Concepcion’s bid to be YCO’s third conqueror in the tournament, the Comets lazed away practice time. Meaning they didn’t exert too much efforts, just loosened their muscles. But they were impressive in built, in movement.

 

“Ang lalaki (how big!),” exclaimed a boy trapped by Sunday night’s hard rains.

 

So long as it’s not their heads that grow, big things are bound to come out all right for the Comets.

MICAA Revisited: 24 Days after the Crispa Six Scandal (Sports World, 1973)

Sports World Magazine

August 4, 1973

Tessa M. Jazmines

 

 

            What’s with the basketball nuts after the cage fix scandal? Did enthusiasm cool and Coliseum attendance wane? How did the sports buffs take it? What say the ladies and the hero-worshipping kids?

 

            To get the answer SW turned on its radar and acquired a pair of parabolic ears. Sharpened its vision and observed, observed, observed. It watched the crowd at the Coliseum. Listened to loud whispers in the comfort rooms. Sometimes, it used ESP to detect nuances of emotions behind tightly-set lips. More often than not, it asked downright, snoopy questions.

 

            Was your enthusiasm for basketball affected by this cage fix thing? A comely lady called Leila was asked. “It didn’t affect me at all,” she said, “because it didn’t affect the team I’m rooting for.”

 

            “Yes,” a saucer-eyed TV fan named Tiks said sadly when asked the same question. “Everytime I watch the games now, I can’t help wondering whether it’s an act or it’s for real. It saddens me to know that the players are not playing according to their true abilities and displaying their real talents.

 

 

 

            Actually, most of those interviewed displayed unabated interest for the sport. Almost all were just as enthusiastic about watching the games now as before the scandal broke out.

 

            Do you still want to watch the games? SW asked someone who looked like a basketball-smitten teenager. “Oh yes!” came the animated reply. “In fact, I’m exhausting all possible channels to get tickets.”

 

            Others empathized with the involved players. “It’s really going to be hard on those who were caught,” one said.

 

            Some – particularly an artist named Rody – displayed a sharpened sense of justice: “It’s going to affect the performance of the Philippine team,” he said. “But the life ban penalty is good. Masama talaga yun ginawa nila, eh.”

 

            Another fellow’s comment dealt more on the philosophical plane: “A person is only as good as his credibility. A man’s honesty is the key to his credibility. If you don’t have that, who’s going to trust you?” And with an emotion-packed “Sayang,” he shook his head.

 

            Others were so downright mad they wanted the investigation extended to include not noly players but also coaches and referees. It is the children, however, who idolized the fallen players who are most pathetic of all. A mother of four, all Crispa fans, said her children were heartbroken about their heroes. A little girl feels so ashamed and persecuted in school by classmates who taunt her about the players in her favored team.

 

            It seems that those who watch basketball for the thrill of it, who cheer for spirit and root for love – particularly for the team concerned – were greatly affected. On the other hand, those who favor other teams and who would rather think of the whole thing as a minor snag in the tapestry of life just shrug the matter off, view matters realistically, and go on enjoying the games where they left off.

 

            The crowd has not thinned out at the Rizal Memorial either. They still come in packs and droves. The lower box seats still get sold out, and the galleries still teem with people who brave the fickle weather and the oppressive stadium heat.

 

 

 

            Of course, as one enthusiast matter of factly put it, “Kaya maraming nagtitiyaga diyan, hindi dahil sa laro, kundi sa pusta,” – there is a suggestion that betting is very much part of RP basketball.

 

            There is a common consensus among the buffs that quite a number of undesirable activities and characters abound in local bigtime basketball. Almost all, however, are thankful that the MICAA and the BAP, together with the Metrocom have given this matter the necessary attention and applied the necessary pressures to clean the sport of its dirt.

 

            No, it doesn’t look like basketball will lose its following after the cage fix thing. On the contrary, some are even optimistic that the steps being taken at present will improve the sport and give the honest-to-goodness fans who don’t watch the games for money something to shout about.

 

            Soon enough, the hardcourt fistfights, bloody noses and cracked wrists may be suffered again for the real thing. We’d all love that. Wouldn’t you?