Rising Suns regroup after departure of star Tautuaa
Cagayan Valley-Gerry’s Grill still sees itself as a contender despite losing a major cog in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup.
Filipino-American guard Abel Galliguez thinks the Risings Suns, runners-up to last conference’s champion Hapee, can find their groove again even minus the 6-foot-7 Moala Tautuaa.
“We try not to look back,” said Galliguez. “We’re without Moala, so we can’t look back and say if we had him, this could have happened differently. We’ll just see what we have now and try to make it work.”
Tautuaa, the Fil-Tongan center who typically logs in double-double numbers, joined the league-leading Cebuana Lhuillier (3-0) just weeks before the new conference kicked off.
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The Rising Suns got off to a 1-1 start, their first loss dealt by MP Hotel in a one-point upset, 106-107, just last Thursday.
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“Our transition defense, we have to work on it more,” said Galliguez. “We’re still relying on one-on-one plays, instead of trying to have more ball movement.”
“They’re a fighting team and they’re always a contender,” Gerry’s Grill co- owner Jerome Ngo said during the announcement of the restaurant’s tie-up with the Rising Suns yesterday at Gerry’s Plus at UP Town Center in Quezon City.
