CALVIN Abueva’s standing at Alaska remains status quo.
Coach Alex Compton remains clueless on when star player Calvin Abueva will rejoin the team, pointing out he defers to management as far as decisions on the fate of the controversial 30-year-old forward is concerned.
“If you were to go to Roget’s Thesaurus which I used a lot growing up, indefinite remains indefinite,” said the Alaska mentor in his post-game interview after the Aces booked their seventh straight win in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Friday following a 120-111 drubbing of the NLEX Road Warriors at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Abueva missed his second straight game after Alaska management lowered the boom on him last week by putting the Angeles City native on an indefinite suspension following his unexplained absence in the Aces’ practices since the All-Star weekend.
Compton is likewise mum on whether Abueva continues to receive his monthly salary for the duration of the suspension.
The Alaska coach referred to the official statement released by management on the decision, which didn’t touch on the matter.
“I don’t know if that was discussed in the press release so I’m not going to discuss that here,” said Compton.
As one tight-knit franchise, Compton added it has not been Alaska’s practice to wash dirty linen in public.
“You guys know how we run a tight ship,” he said. “What’s in the family is what’s in the family.
“I think what we gave you guys about is to tell you what we can.”
While Abueva is indeed, a big loss for the team, Compton said the Aces would rather deal with their ongoing campaign in the mid-season conference in which Alaska is currently the hottest team after sweeping its last seven games after losing the opener to Rain or Shine.
The win over NLEX put the Aces (7-1) on top of the standings in a tie with idle Rain or Shine and on track of claiming one of the top two seedings in the quarterfinals. They next meet the Meralco Bolts on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Right now we’re just focus on winning games. The standings are so interesting on top,” said a smiling Compton.
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