A steal away

Today could be the day when Johnny Abarrientos ties Robert Jaworski for third place in the all-time steals ladder of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

The Flying A, with his cape back on, is a swipe away from equaling Jaworski’s career mark of 937. The remarkable thing is Abarrientos, 31, is only in his ninth PBA season while it took 23 years for the Big J to compile his total.

Ramon Fernandez is on top of the steals department with a total of 1,302 in 20 seasons and second is Bernie Fabiosa with 1,235 in 17. Assuming Abarrientos stays healthy and averages a conservative 70 steals a year, he should be able to claim the title of Master Thief in five more campaigns – at the age of 36.

So far this season, Abarrientos has racked up 61 steals. He had 76 last year. In the recent All-Filipino Conference, the Flying A ranked second in total swipes – 36 to Chris Jackson’s 38 but he played a game less than the Shell Fil-Am.

While it’s sad that Abarrientos won’t accomplish his milestone feat in an Alaska uniform – the colors he proudly wore for eight years in leading the franchise to 10 titles and capturing MVP honors in 1996, he’ll celebrate just the same in a Pop Cola jersey.

In fact, Abarrientos has more reason to toast, now that he’s playing for the Panthers. Because it was Pop Cola team owner Joey Concepcion who gave him a fresh lease on life and expressed confidence that the Flying A still had the wings to soar to new heights.

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Last year was forgettable for Abarrientos. He averaged 7.9 points a game, the first time ever his scoring clip fell to less than double figures. Although he paced Alaska to the All-Filipino title, Abarrientos wasn’t spared by detractors who insinuated his drop in weight led to his dipping stats and spread rumors that he wasn’t into something good. If only his critics bothered to ask, Abarrientos – suffering quietly, battled a wide array of injuries, primarily in the knees and was ordered by doctors to reduce his weight, by about 10 pounds, to lighten the load on his joints.

When Pop Cola coach Chot Reyes brought Abarrientos to the Concepcion camp his year, critics went to town. It was a big risk, they chorused, as Abarrientos was coming off a so-so season and no one could be sure if he would ever fly as high as before.

But Abarrientos was determined to prove his critics wrong. He was determined to repay Concepcion, Panthers team manager Elmer Yanga, and Reyes for their vote of confidence.

In the first two conferences this year, Abarrientos hit at a 10.2 clip, shot 85.1 percent from the line, and averaged 3.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.8 steals, and 34.4 minutes a game. The stats were a testimony that he was back in stride and on track.

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In the ongoing Governors Cup, Reyes took fans by surprise – after Pop Cola stumbled to a 0-2 start – when he pulled out Abarrientos from the starting lineup and inserted another former Alaska stalwart Jojo Lastimosa in the first five. It wasn’t meant to denigrate Abarrientos – far from it. Reyes just wanted to try out something different, something to stem the tide.

Since playing off the bench, Abarrientos has been nothing short of sensational. He averaged seven points as a starter in Pop Cola’s 0-2 start but raised his clip to 11.8 as a reliever in the Panthers’ last four games which, not coincidentally, were all wins.

Abarrientos may not start the game but he’s on the floor at the final buzzer and his average playing time hasn’t diminished.

Last Wednesday, the Flying A poured in eight of his 10 points in the decisive fourth period to fuel Pop Cola’s 80-74 decision over Talk ’N Text at the Big Dome. The victory was the Panthers’ fourth straight and installed the team as a legitimate title contender in the race for the Third Conference plum.

In today’s first game of a PBA twinbill at the Araneta Coliseum, Pop Cola shoots for win No. 5 against Shell as Abarrientos, still the premier "little big man" in the Land of the Giants, moves closer to marking another milestone in his storybook career.