No excuses for Taulava after hard fall, loss vs Aces
Asi Taulava. PBA IMAGES
Asi Taulava saw Eric Menk giving everything he could despite having a broken nose. Menk, the Alaska veteran, banged up and all, still came away with nine points and six rebounds.
Drawing inspiration from Menk, Taulava, the oldest player in the league at 42, didn’t let a hard fall in the third quarter keep him from fighting for NLEX.
“That’s part of the older generation, broken nose, busted up, we take no days off. We come out to play. That’s part of basketball and how much you enjoy the game,” said Taulava after the Road Warriors lost to the Aces, 89-81.
“The old school guys, it doesn’t matter. You love the game so much you come back the next day and help your team win. If the younger guys see you soft, it won’t sit well. They’re setting good examples and that’s what you need from veterans, stepping up the plate when they have injuries.”
Taulava said he felt the pain as he crashed to the floor but that only made him want to get back on his feet and shrug it off.
“I tried to get up, but I felt like I’m 42 right now. It was painful, getting the wind knocked off of me. It was more of my ego. I can’t wait to get a day off and get back to work on Sunday and prepare for Wednesday,” Taulava said. “My back is fine. It’s my ego, because my [butt] got kicked tonight.”
Taulava finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in nearly 30 minutes of playing time.
Those were decent numbers for an old-timer, but having showed he’s still very much capable of dominating games, Taulava knew that he didn’t do enough to help the Road Warriors win.
“Sonny (Thoss), Eric, Calvin (Abueva), Vic (Manuel), they were ready for us tonight. We learned from tonight’s game,” said Taulava, who chalked up 22 points and 21 rebounds in NLEX’s 93-91 victory over Meralco last Tuesday.
Falling behind by as much as 20, NLEX closed the gap to four, 82-78, before big shots from Cyrus Baguio and JVee Casio coupled by costly turnovers by the Road Warriors sealed the Aces’ win.
“It’s a lesson. We figured them out in the fourth quarter, but we always seem to wait until the fourth quarter to figure things out. We just got to get back to work,” said Taulava.
“We got to bounce back, and we always bounce back well. We can’t let it go two (losses) in a row. We got to take care of ourselves as a team, be more positive. It’s all about planning for the playoffs right now.”
NLEX tries to rebound against GlobalPort on Wednesday.
“GlobalPort, we’re coming for you.”
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