MANILA, 29 November 2007 — Asi Taulava’s first stint with the Coca-Cola Tigers was a success — for himself.
For the team, however, it was total failure — again. Taulava’s maiden appearance as a Tiger, though impressive, wasn’t enough to stop the bleeding Coca-Cola has been having in the Philippine Cup, as the Tigers stumbled to a 117-106 loss to Alaska for a franchise-worst eighth straight defeat. The few who came to the Araneta Coliseum witnessed the Taulava of old. The 2003 MVP scored 33 points — his highest output in more than three years — and pulled down 17 rebounds, yet still came up short in leading the pathetic Tigers to a victory they last tasted on Oct. 17 against Welcoat. “We were really worried,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone a day before his Aces were to meet the Tigers with Taulava as their new center. The Fil-Tongan, whose eight years in the PBA was marred with drugs and ineligibility issues, was traded Monday night by the only team he played for — Talk ‘N Text — to Coca-Cola for Ali Peek and the first round draft choice next year.
The Phone Pals said it was a hard thing to do, them and Asi going through difficult times in the past. But it was a decision the team had to make, said board representative Ricky Vargas “for a higher purpose.” Taulava, for his part, said he’s excited to be part of a new team, and will embrace the challenge of trying to get Coca-Cola out of the cellar.
He was true to his words, and was matched with actions. But the Tigers just didn’t appear to have the fire within them.
The first team to win a title in its maiden season way back in the season-ending 2002 All-Filipino Conference, Coca-Cola got into a hole it never got to dig out from, being ditched into a 48-65 deficit after Alaska shot a scorching 68.4 percent from the field (13-of-19). The Tigers could only muster 38.5 percent (15-of-39). Then, the Tigers found themselves in a hopeless situation when Alaska didn’t stop the onslaught, storming to its largest lead of the game at 29 points, 103-74 on two free throws by Mike Cortez with 9:56 left to play.
To save face, Coca-Cola made a rally. The Tigers chopped down the bulge to within 10, 99-109 on a split from Taulava, but never really had a real go at turning the game around after Alaska regained its touch.
Taulava’s output was the highest since a career-high 51 points on May 16, 2004, the time when Talk ‘N Text was really a dominant team. On that day, the Phone Pals routed Purefoods, 131-105. With the win, Alaska moved into third place with at 6-4 behind Purefoods, 9-1, and Red Bull, 6-3. The Tigers, who are in their worst start in franchise history, are 1-8. Jeffrey Cariaso scored 26 points, reigning MVP Willie Miller had 25 and Mike Cortez added 20 for Alaska.
Mark Telan contributed 20 and Ronjay Buenafe had 18 points for the Tigers, who still played without John Arigo, who is still recovering from a hyper-extended elbow injury, and Ricky Calimag (arm injury). Defending champions Ginebra, meantime, pulled off its second straight win and fourth overall in 10 games, but not after experiencing scary moments in a 94-87 victory over Welcoat.
The Gin Kings needed a big triple from Sunday Salvacion and a critical basket from Jay-Jay Helterbrand to erase an 85-87 deficit and deal the Dragons their 11th straight loss at the Big Dome and their seventh in 10 games in the tournament.
It was also the second successive hard-earned win for Ginebra, which beat Coca-Cola the last time 110-102 after Helterbrand and Mark Caguio scored seven unanswered points in the last 67 seconds.
