Tautuaa raring to bounce back vs Taulava, NLEX
Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Asi Taulava may have a lot of joy in calling Moala Tautuaa “Pebbles,” but the younger Fil-Tongan won’t have any of it.
“You can tell him he’s not getting any younger,” Tautuaa said.
The trading of barbs will finally come to a head on Saturday when TNT faces off against NLEX in the quarterfinals.
The Tropang Texters own a twice-to-beat advantage and Tautuaa hopes to fare better compared to his foul-plagued outing the last time he played against Taulava back in the elimination round.
“Obviously I made some adjustments. Just less hands this time. I’m not afraid of him, it’s me. I’m stopping myself. I haven’t really gotten a chance to face off with him. I’m a different player from the first time we met. It will be interesting to see how it goes,” he said.
Tautuaa had a forgettable performance in the first meeting, finishing with only 11 points and three rebounds in TNT’s 107-101 loss to NLEX.
And the top pick in this year’s draft can’t wait to get back at his elder fellow.
“I just want to get this done. If it goes to two games, so be it. We’re going to come out and the plan is to win. That’s what we want to do,” he said, while also adding there won’t be any love lost between the sister teams.
“It is what it is,” said Tautuaa. “They have a different jersey than us and I want our jersey to prevail in the end.”
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