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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Thursday, January 5, 2017
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MANILA – Veteran center Asi Taulava decided to stay put at the NLEX Road Warriors a week after making headlines for wanting to play for another team in the ongoing 2016-2017 Oppo PBA Philippine Cup.
Taulava, a 2003 Most Valuable Player, dropped his trade request after meeting with team officials, including head coach Yeng Guiao, according to the Road Warriors team manager Ronald Dulatre.
“When I met Asi (on Monday), his first option is to stay with the NLEX. Then we met Coach Yeng yesterday after practice, and he (Taulava) told us he will be staying,” Dulatre said in a statement.
If Dulatre were to be believed, “frustration” over his poor performance in the Road Warriors’ first five games caused the 43-year-old Fil-Tongan to request for trade.
“Basically, that’s his frustration,” the team manager said. “He (Taulava) wants to contribute more to the team, but he cannot because he’s not yet recovered 100 percent from his previous injuries and migraine attack.”
“He just wants to be 100 percent in shape and try to help our team more,” added Dulatre. “Coach Yeng is much willing to find other ways for him to contribute [but said] he (Taulava) needs to accept his role in the team.”
A former Gilas Pilipinas center, Taulava is coming off a solid year last season, averaging 13.8 points and 10.2 rebounds in over 31 minutes with the Road Warriors under former coach Boyet Fernandez.
But after suffering from a bruised heel during the offseason, he saw his minutes drop drastically under Guiao, averaging just 14.3 minutes and yielding just 3.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in five games this season./PN
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