From L-R: Rain or Shine’s Chris Tiu, TNT’s Moala Tautaa, Alaska’s Jeron Teng and Rain or Shine’s James Yap.
In the spirit of going into the New Year with a brand new perspective in life, some PBA players also have a list of they want to change in 2018.
And although New Year’ resolutions and wishes are as cliché as TV stations blaring Auld Lang Syne at the stroke of midnight, that won’t stop certain players from asking for a little positivity for the coming year.
For Rain or Shine wingman James Yap, he hopes that his 2018 will be filled with the more moments with his family.
“I hope my 2018 will be the year for my family, and of course good health for myself,” said the 35-year-old Yap who had his third child, Michael James, in August of 2016.
Chris Tiu has a similar approach for the upcoming year as he wants to spend more time with his growing family.
“I want to spend more time with my family because it’s been a very pretty busy year of basketball, businesses, and TV work, but my daughter is growing up really fast,” said the 32-year-old Tiu, who welcomed his daughter Amanda Claire in June 2016.
“There’s another one on the wa and at the end of the day life is too short, life is so unpredictable, I just want to be able to spend more time with the people close to me and show them some love.”
For the younger crew, though, their outlook for 2018 is mostly rooted on the basketball court.
TNT forward Moala Taututaa said he plans to continue his strong start in the Philippine Cup where he has been averaging 10 points and 8.50 rebounds in his first two games.
“My goal for myself is to keep getting better, don’t be discouraged because it’s hard out here you know,” said the 28-year-old man-child of TNT. “Everyone here is the best player out of where they came from so of course basketball’s going to be tougher and harder.”
“You can’t just walk in and just expect results. I got to continue to keep a positive mind, keep working, and just try to continue to always be better, don’t get complacent.”
As for Alaska rookie Jeron Teng, there’s one thing that he has set his eyes on for 2018.
“I hope I can get a championship in the pros, I was a champion in college, and hopefully through effort and hard work we can get a championship,” said the 23-year-old Teng.