Asi out but TnT fancied vs Shell

Asi Taulava has no recourse but to continue cheering for his team behind the bench but Talk n Text remains the heavy favorite versus Shell at the start of the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Cup Final Four at the Araneta Coliseum today.

Meanwhile, odds are about even in the other best-of-five semifinal duel pitting San Miguel Beer against Red Bull — a showdown between a team freshened up by a long respite and a squad charged up by classic wins in the wildcard and quarterfinal plays.

PBA commissioner Noli Eala turned down Talk n Text’s bid to put Taulava back in the team’s lineup on the strength of a Court of Appeals ruling considered by Talk n Text officials as affirmation of the player’s Filipino citizenship.

Eala insisted the PBA board of governors has a resolution requiring Taulava to get a favorable ruling from the Department of Justice on his citizenship for him to be reinstated in the league.

In a letter to Talk n Text team manager Frankie Lim, Eala reportedly said he’ll cancel the game if Taulava suits up with the Phone Pals for their 4:15 p.m. tiff with the Turbochargers.

It will be remembered that Taulava, despite his indefinite suspension, wasn’t stopped from reporting and eventually playing Game Two of their best-of-seven title collision with Barangay Ginebra in the recent Philippine Cup.

The Phone Pals won the contest but the Kings put the game under protest later on, and the Commissioner’s Office reversed its outcome. The Kings went on to win the championship.

Despite the uncertainty of Taulava’s status during the team’s long break after topping the double-round classification phase, the Phone Pals worked out with the 6-foot-9 behemoth. Taulava even played for the team as it figured in a two-game exhibition series with the Sydney Kings in Australia. The Phone Pals lost by eight and by 12 points in those games.

Shell coach Leo Austria could only hope his players continue to play with grit and guts to have a chance to upset Talk n Text.

"Depende na sa determination ng mga bata ang tsansa namin against Talk n Text," said Austria.

Finishing ninth at the close of the classifications, Shell is the lowest seeded team ever to reach the Final Four. The Turbochargers have been on a dream ride in the playoffs, scoring two-game victories over the Sta. Lucia Realtors and the Purefoods Hotdogs in the wildcard and quarterfinals.

Going through the eye of the needle to arrange a semis confrontation with the second-seeded Beermen were the sixth-ranked Barakos.

Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao thinks they would be at a disadvantage versus the well-rested Beermen with the Barakos wore down by a three-game struggle against the Alaska Aces in three days in the quarters.

But San Miguel coach Jong Uichico doesn’t think the Barakos are tired going into the semis.

"Ang Alaska talagang pagod. Pero ang Red Bull hindi napagod iyan dahil niro-rotate lahat ni coach Yeng ang mga tao niya," said Uichico.

And Uichico said Red Bull is tough to play "because they work on mysterious ways."

Uichico mentioned the deciding Game Three of the Red Bull-Alaska duel where an unlikely hero in Brian Gahol emerged for the Barakos.

Gahol, curiously a former Alaska player, fired a killer three-pointer in the dying seconds that pierced through the Aces’ heart.