Happy Birthday, Alberto "Abet" Gutierrez ( Oct 16 )

Happy Birthday, Alberto "Abet" Gutierrez

PBA pioneer
Ateneo de Davao University forward
2x PBA champion
3-PBA team player
12-PBA season veteran

Source : Assorted Magazines (PBA Archives Collections)

The lad, barely 22, a Libra-born former Davao City standout, has weathered the initial immersion of a rookie in the PBA (nerves, beingrattled-now-and-then, 'scared' of the harrassments, razzings, et al) and is now doing his darndest to help his squad, the Tanduay Distillers, notch successive wins in the tourney. Alberto 'Abet' Gutierrez is 6' 11/2", 148 lbs., an Ateneo de Davao product (high school and part of his college years, he's now finishing his AB Economics at the FEU), who caught the attention of Bonnie Carbonnell of Elizalde enterprises (no doubt upon being tipped by a 'talent scout') and soon was given his airplane tickets to Manila in order to try out for the YCO squad. 'Abet' is a hard-working player: this more or less sums up the comments culled by this writer from varied sources. A forward-guard of a MICAA team said: "Hanga ako diyan kay Gutierrez. Ang liit ng katawan, pero, lumalaban so loob...e, kung mabalya siya ng malalaki, tiyak, titilapon 'yan..." A newcomer in the PBA, who now plays for the Mariwasa Hondas stressed: "Mas maganda nga ngayon ang nilalaro. He's good in those under-the-goal shots. Magaling magtwist, kaya lang, kulang pa siya sa 'long shots'... He's very good when he glides and tips in..." Another observer, a long-time basketball happenings' habitue: expressed: "He's what you might call, a player who is hardworking. Masipag..." watch the Observe Gutierrez: alertness which the player possesses. He anticipates long-passes; he now and then runs towards the sides, glides and connects for a twin. Inside, he weathers the likes of Paner, of Ritualo, of Kutch, of bigger centers and defense-men. He doesn't mind scrambling for the leather with heftier, larger and bulkier hoopsters, rather unmindful of his seemingly puny build compared to the others. In short, he's a fighter. With plenty of guts. With the Carlos Loyzaga-coached Distillers, . "Abet" sometimes dubbed 'Guti' by his teammates, finds himself being fielded now and then. And he stays in longer than most. Although of course, there's Jaime Taguines and David Supnet,  all dependable cogs of the welloiled Tanduay Distillers, it is a cinch to expect that he'd give his best at his post the moment he's tapped by his coach to go in. He doesn't have a 'big head' on those puny-looking shoulders. Fact is, he is self-effacing How's Abet Gutierrez as a person? He's a young man with plenty of idealism in his heart as most Librans are. He dresses neatly, impeccably. His clothes show taste; his demeanor reveal his yen for life and living. And his only excess perhaps: continuous smoking (which well-meaning friends say he should give up or else, lessen) and hours and hours of precious sleep. -For to call 'Guti' at say, 10:00 in the morning at their residence in BF Homes, would be to get the answer that he's still in bed, fast asleep. And what time does he usually wake up? About 11:00 a.m. perhaps? No, he invariably gets up at about 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon. That's Abet: a sleephound. If he's a voracious lover of sleep, he's also a confirmed believer in eating good foods. But sometimes his preferences are disastrously the ones that are non-protein: like cakes, pastries, candies, loaves and loaves of bread, spread-for-bread, chocolates, candy bars, chocolates and more candy bars. You'd perhaps wonder, how about fish and vegetables? He loves steaks; meat, pork chops, etc. But don't feed him vegetables or fish, according to a cousin named Milan. Voted as the PBA.s 'Most Improved Player' in the past, Gutierrez would still have to get hold of his trophy denoting his having won the title. "Mr. Itchon has it," he says. "The name will be inscribed, I was told..." The trophy attests to his tremendous improvement as a nononsense, gutsy player. Ganglingly tall but wiry, knowledgeable, a player who has consistently tried to improve his pivoting, his positioning, his timing, a player who center-post's wouldn't mind the scrambles-for-theleather, who snatches those rebounds, whether it's on the offensive or defensive side, Gutierrez is one hoopster who, together with the rest of the cast, makes the Tanduay quint sparkle these days like heady wine.