Extended semis minutes loom for San Miguel's Fajardo-Tautuaa duo

MANILA, Philippines — Moala Tautuaa is used to being the backup center of June Mar Fajardo, providing relief for the latter when he is on the bench. However, the Filipino-Tongan will see more action together with Fajardo as San Miguel looks to exploit their height advantage in the playoffs.

“We seldom use Mo and June Mar together, but we’re preparing to use these two guys more in the playoffs,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said after the Beermen defeated the Meralco Bolts, 108-97, last Friday, June 20, to advance to the semifinals.

The dominance of the twin-tower combination was in full display as the Beermen grabbed 55 rebounds, with 22 coming from the offensive end. Austria cited how the extra possessions were crucial in producing second-chance points and drawing trips to the charity stripe.

“It draws a lot of fouls and free-throws. That’s why our free throw is 35/40. And we focus on our free throws in our practices because in the past, yun last three losses namin against Magnolia, Talk ‘N Text, at yung huli namin [Converge], we lost through free throws.”

For Tautuaa, the tactical change will take adjustment — but it is one that he welcomes to unlock new advantages for the Beermen.

“The more we work on it, the better we’ll get at it. In practice, I’m usually the one guarding June so on the court when we play together, it’s a bit different. But, we’ll work out the kinks and we’ll get it together,” Tautua explained.

“I feel like having the double-big will really help our team. We’re bigger in the key and we’ll be able to stop whatever comes down there a little bit better,” the former Gilas bigman added.

Tautua contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds against the Bolts. His continuous  acclimation  to playing the power-forward position will make the Beermen even more difficult to deal with.

This could not have come at a more pivotal time as they are set to face a fellow powerhouse in the Barangay Ginebra Kings, which is backed by its own frontcourt duo of Troy Rosario and Japeth Aguilar. — Ravi Tan, intern