End of the Asi Taulava Era.

Man, this is depressing.

You may have known by now that Asi "the Rock" Taulava, has been traded to Meralco. Powerade also released Ken Bono to the Barako Bull. The tigers acquired Rob Reyes and Barako's 2013 2nd round pick.

It can be argued that the tigers continued to struggle even with the arrival of Asi, but when he came to Coke via trade with Talk n' Text, he brought in new life and grit to what have been a seemingly lifeless franchise. Asi would then become the team's new leader for the next couple of years. Too bad he never had enough support to carry the tigers to the next level.

Oh well, there's always an end for everything. The glorious championship years, the Peek-Arigo led transition period, the gloomy dynasty of Binky Favis and now, the Asi Taulava era.

A cliche, but the team now has to move on. No single player can replace Asi's contributions to the team so several guys will have to step up.

More specifically, these 5 guys:

1. Gary David - David will now have to take the role of being the leader of this squad. Opponents will be expected to focus their defense on Gary now that Asi is no longer around. Hopefully, Mr. Pure Energy is up to the task.

2. Dennis Espino - With Asi gone, Dennis is now the tiger's main (and perhaps only) option at the post. In scoring, there's no doubt that Espino is capable of replacing Asi's numbers, but will he be able to replace Asi's leadership and 11 rebs/game last season?

3. Rob Reyes - well, he's the big man that Powerade got in return, so he will essentially be replacing Asi. He is still unproven, but he's still young and is known to be a hardworker and a hustle guy. If he turns out to become a Pingris-type of player, then this trade might not look that bad after all. But that's a big If...

4. Sean Anthony - Anthony is a natural wingman, but with Powerade's current hole in the frontline, we could be seeing him play some minutes at the '4' spot ala Rudy Hatfield. Anthony could help replace Asi's rebounding numbers.

5. Ren-Ren Ritualo - Powerade will lose a huge chunk of their offense with Asi's departure. Not only can Asi provide inside scoring, he also attracts double-teams, often freeing up Coke's shooters. Without Asi, opponents will now be committed to the shooters of Powerade without having to worry on double-teaming in the post. That's bad news for guys like Macapagal, Allera and Gonzales, but for someone like Ritualo who's known to be capable of shooting even with a hand on his face, it shouldn't be that much of a problem. That's if, Ren-Ren gets his old game back.. and that's another big 'if'.

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So there goes the tigers' leader, there goes the heart and soul of our team, and there goes "the Rock"..

Goodbye Asi... and thank you for playing for the tigers.  It was good while it lasted. Hopefully, you win another title before you call it quits, you deserve one as much as any other player in the league.

Guess I will have to change this blog's header art as well. *sigh*



Roar.... out.