Asi Defies Father Time

Can I get an encore?

The Meralco Bolts are surging.

No, they're no where near championship caliber-- at least not yet. But the pieces are slowly starting to fall into place. Mac Cardona will never change or adapt, he'll always be the gunslinging assassin from days of old. Either you bench him or let him play the way he does-- which Coach Ryan Gregorio has done quite brilliantly. Sol Mercado lacks consistency, but the tenacity and talent is undeniable. Chris Ross is fast blossoming into a super quick, defensive pest at PG. Reynel Hugnatan is and will forever be a lock as the PBA's most under rated all around clutch performer.

And then there's Asi Taulava.


The 6"9 Fil-Tonggan is starting to look stronger than ever in the post, playing with more purpose rather than just relying on brute strength. During his prime, Taulava was never the go-to-guy in the paint ala peers Eric Menk, Danny Ildefonso and Dennis Espino. The points and MVP plum was more a product of his massive size and strength rather than any specific skillset.

His approach to the game, the way he's built but only averages less than 10 rebounds on a good day-- these made him expendable. There's a reason why the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters started winning more once they shipped Taulava out to Coca Cola (before he found his way back to the MVP fold via the Bolts). And now, we're finally seeing the man known as The Rock put it all together-- though in limited stretches such as in tonight's win over the Alaska Aces.

Tonight he was pitted against the Aces' franchise player Sonny Thoss. A solid low post presence with decent skills, Thoss found himself being bullied by the heftier Taulava who operated almost exclusively within 5 to 10 feet off the rim.

The Bolts will only go as far as Taulava takes them, with Cardona being badly exposed last conference in the BMeg series wherein Marc Pingris just sonned him and Mercado still being one-dimensional (he's improving, but it's either kamikaze drives or bust with this guy). As a fan of the sport, I'd like to see Taulava put together a string of dominant performances just enough to get back to the promised land.

Hopefully, with the shortened Governor's Cup eliminations format, we'll get to see just that.

One more run for The Rock.