MANILA, Philippines -- Though Gilas Pilipinas players have been falling on the wayside due to injuries, NLEX’s ageless slotman Asi Taulava said the least he could do is complain for his no-relief job in practice.
The 42-year-old Taulava admitted practice has been tough the past days, especially since naturalized player Andray Blatche is out due to prostatitis, Ranidel de Ocampo still nursing a hamstring injury, while Kelly Williams has dropped out of the national pool due to an MCL (medial collateral ligament) strain on his right knee.
“I might be playing a lot younger than my age come next season when the all-Filipino conference starts up,” Taulava said jokingly after Tuesday night’s practice at the Meralco gym.
But turning serious, Taulava said he, along with Sonny Thoss, the only other legitimate healthy big man left in the pool, are moving along well as they try to help build chemistry within Gilas.
The Fil-Tongan doesn’t even mind if he has been going non-stop for two hours in practice.
“We’re trying to grow as players, and at the same time, we’re here to build chemistry,” noted Taulava.
“Everything has to be done with perfection. Every now and then, we make mistakes and coach Tab wants us to clean it up because as professional, he doesn’t want us to keep making the same mistakes,” he added.
The evergreen Gilas backup center sees the tough practices under Baldwin as a way to prepare them for the hard grind in next month’s Fiba-Asia men’s championships where he’ll be battling seven-footers with regularity.
“Just the competitiveness and we’re pushing each other, no letting up with one another because we’re just being fair with pthe (Gilas) program,” explained Taulava.
“The only way to be fair with the program is to be in shape, finishing around the basket, especially if we play seven-footers of other national teams, and that means, we gotta be quicker since they have the size, but we have to finish strong around the basket,” he added.
Gilas takes a day off on Wednesday before returning to practice the following day.
Baldwin expects Star forward Marc Pingris and Fil-Tongan, top rookie prospect Moala Tautuaa to join Gilas’ practice starting Thursday.