Gustung-gusto nang magsilbi ng 6-foot-9 Fil-Tongan na si Asi Taulava, nakalaro na sa Asian Games at FIBA-Asia championship at nais niyang makapag-uwi ng medalya mula sa isang international competition bago matapos ang kanyang playing career.
Aminado ang 36-gulang na si Taulava na hindi na siya bata ngunit naniniwala siya na makakatulong pa rin ito sa national team na bubuuin ni coach Yeng Guiao para sa world championship qualifier sa susunod na taon.
“If coach Yeng needs me, I’m here. I’m available. I’m sure he has a lot of plans but if he needs me as a practice player or whatever, I would be glad to help,” ani Taulava.
“It would be an honor (to again play for the RP team). It’s not everybody who can go around. I feel good and awed representing the country. The sad thing is that I don’t have a medal. I want a medal to show for it,” sabi pa niya.
Handa na ang Fil-Tongan na lumaro para kay Guiao.
“Coach Yeng is like a different blood. He has a different attitude he’s bringing to the national team. He handles Red Bull with such great tremendous plays. He pushes the players there,” ani Taulava ukol sa Red Bull mentor.
“He’s coaching a team with no superstar but he brings the best out of them. I would be grateful to play under him. The guy is something like 5’9. I’m 6’9. But ooh, I would be intimidated by him. It’s something different. And every time you take a different direction, it’s exciting. You don’t know what’s there,” dagdag pa ni Taulava. Naniniwala si Taulava na may maibabahagi siya sa team sa kanyang karanasan sa Busan at Tokushima.
“There are a lot of younger guys out there but I’m prepared. I can do a little help, sticking with my strength which is to play defense. I can’t try to be a scorer because we have good guards and all the shooters. What I can do is bring defense and do whatever the coach asks for same thing I did for coach Jong (Uichico) and coach Chot (Reyes),” ani Taulava.
Naniniwala din ang Coca-Cola center na kayang lumaban ng Philippines at manalo ng ginto sa Asian region.
“We have a great chance. Even with our ninth-place finish in Tokushima, all the teams we played there now know we can compete though undersized. Look at Iran --they went to the Olympics. But if not for a technical foul (called on coach Chot Reyes), we would have beat them,” aniya.
“With the guys we have right now, it’s gonna be interesting,” dagdag niya.
Binanggit ni Taulava ang mga pangalan nina Mick Pennisi, Mark Caguioa, Jayjay Helterbrand at Jimmy Alapag na dapat ikonsidera sa RP team.
Naunang sinabi ni Guiao na nais niyang maisama sa team sina Taulava, Pennisi, Caguioa, Helterbrand, Alapag, Kelly Williams, Gabe Norwood, James Yap, Ryan Reyes, Cyrus Baguio at Willie Miller para sa FIBA-Asia championship sa susunod na taon bilang qualifying sa 2010 World Championship sa Turkey. (NBeltran)