With Fajardo out, it's time for Tautuaa, Manuel to shine
Published Mar 18, 2023 03:46 am
“It’s your time to shine.”
That was the message of San Miguel head coach Jorge Gallent to backup big men Mo Tautuaa and Vic Manuel as they urged them to step up in the absence of main man June Mar Fajardo.
The two took that to heart and showed up in SMB’s 129-116 victory over Rain or Shine to wrap up its elimination schedule. Manuel put up his best performance in the conference with 23 points while Tautuaa added the same output in scoring that also went with 12 rebounds. “I’ve spoken to Vic and to Mo, now, it’s their time to shine. You know, Vic is a great player, and Mo is a great player so they just have to shine, which I know Vic and Mo will perform well,” said Gallent as the Beermen are starting to plow through life without the six-time MVP. Manuel, for his part, said there was indeed a conscious effort not just from the rest of the SMB bigs but the rest of the team to pick up the slack in Fajardo’s absence. “Kailangan namin magtulong-tulong talaga, especially wala si June Mar. Binubuhat niya kami sa lahat ng conference. So kailangan para makatulong sa team namin,” said Manuel who was one of the five players with at least 20 points in the game. Aside from Manuel and Tautuaa, import Cameron Clark, Marcio Lassiter and CJ Perez all breached the 20-point mark. As much as the splendid performance, Manuel is far from satisfied with his contributions especially that he’s still trying to recover from a nagging tightness on his left iliotibial band which kept him in the sidelines for the most part of this season. “Di pa nga ako satisfied eh kasi parang pinupush ko pa ‘yung sarili ko. ‘Di pa ‘ko kuntento na ganun. Wala pa talaga ako sa timing e, kinukuha ko pa rin. Parang may inis pa rin sa sarili ko na makapag-perform ng maganda,” said Manuel. “May nararamdaman pa rin ako kahit konti. Buti na lang medyo maganda ‘yung nilaro ko ngayon para pagdating sa playoffs, tumaas pa ‘yung kumpiyansa ko,” he added. Any confidence boost should be a huge help for the Beermen who, despite being armed with a twice-to-beat advantage, still cannot play complacent against a dangerous Converge FiberXers squad in the quarterfinals.
*Vic Manuel is asked to step up in the absence of June Mar Fajardo (PBA Images)
*The two took that to heart and showed up in SMB’s 129-116 victory over Rain or Shine to wrap up its elimination schedule. Manuel put up his best performance in the conference with 23 points while Tautuaa added the same output in scoring that also went with 12 rebounds. “I’ve spoken to Vic and to Mo, now, it’s their time to shine. You know, Vic is a great player, and Mo is a great player so they just have to shine, which I know Vic and Mo will perform well,” said Gallent as the Beermen are starting to plow through life without the six-time MVP. Manuel, for his part, said there was indeed a conscious effort not just from the rest of the SMB bigs but the rest of the team to pick up the slack in Fajardo’s absence. “Kailangan namin magtulong-tulong talaga, especially wala si June Mar. Binubuhat niya kami sa lahat ng conference. So kailangan para makatulong sa team namin,” said Manuel who was one of the five players with at least 20 points in the game. Aside from Manuel and Tautuaa, import Cameron Clark, Marcio Lassiter and CJ Perez all breached the 20-point mark. As much as the splendid performance, Manuel is far from satisfied with his contributions especially that he’s still trying to recover from a nagging tightness on his left iliotibial band which kept him in the sidelines for the most part of this season. “Di pa nga ako satisfied eh kasi parang pinupush ko pa ‘yung sarili ko. ‘Di pa ‘ko kuntento na ganun. Wala pa talaga ako sa timing e, kinukuha ko pa rin. Parang may inis pa rin sa sarili ko na makapag-perform ng maganda,” said Manuel. “May nararamdaman pa rin ako kahit konti. Buti na lang medyo maganda ‘yung nilaro ko ngayon para pagdating sa playoffs, tumaas pa ‘yung kumpiyansa ko,” he added. Any confidence boost should be a huge help for the Beermen who, despite being armed with a twice-to-beat advantage, still cannot play complacent against a dangerous Converge FiberXers squad in the quarterfinals.