Mo Tautuaa ready for any role that San Miguel needs
MANILA, Philippines–Mo Tautuaa, San Miguel Beer’s latest acquisition for its bid for a Triple Crown season, wouldn’t want people to get their hopes up on him just yet.
“So far, so good,” he said shortly after the Beermen’s practice at Acropolis Clubhouse on Saturday.
“I’m trying to fit in where they need me so far, but you can’t really tell until you have a game.”
Tautuaa, the first overall draft pick in 2015, joined the vaunted club Monday last week in a shocker of a deal that shipped another top draft choice in Christian Standhardinger to NorthPort.
Tautuaa, who is having a sort of a career resurgence with regards to production, knows that people are giddy about the Beermen’s looming matchup with his former team, which is slated this Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But the Filipino-Tongan stressed that he is not even looking that far out.
“We’ll find out tomorrow and see how I do—how I fit in and what coach wants me to do,” said Tautuaa.
San Miguel is set to unleash him this Sunday against 3-3 Columbian, a team that has been so unpredictable this year, defeating the Beermen twice in the elimination phase this year.
So far, Austria wants the 6-foot-8 forward “to complement” the league’s five-time Most Valuable Player, June Mar Fajardo, but Tautuaa is also aware that such a task is a process.
“He wants … to make sure June Mar and I can space the floor a little differently for him,” said Tautuaa. “I think [I’m going] off the bench right now as I can tell from practice.”
A primary cog in NorthPort’s machine, with averages of 11.3 in points and 8.8 in rebounds, Tautuaa said he’s already expecting a diminished role—and he is remotely bothered by it.
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” he said. “What I’m worried about is making sure I fit in and bring what I can to the table.”