Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — NLEX Road Warriors center Asi Taulava says that it is a blessing to be selected as part of the Gilas training pool so late in his career.
“It’s a privilege and it’s an honor,” said Taulava. “Especially at my age to be given a chance again to be part of the pool.”
At 42 years old, Taulava is the oldest active player in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and just recently completed his 16th season in the league. He also added that his role was to back up both June Mar Fajardo and Andray Blatche in case they got injured.
Despite being older than the other members of the training pool, Taulava insisted that his age doesn’t mean that he is handled any differently by coach Tab Baldwin.
“He doesn’t treat any of us any different than the younger guys,” said the Fil-Tongan. “We’re here to work and we’re here to help the team.”
According to the seasoned campaigner, the team is working on developing their chemistry and selflessness. He also praised the selection’s work ethic and attitude.
“It’s a blessing, to be teammates with these kinds of guys,” said Taulava. “The good thing about it, you can see the attitude.”
He added that “everyone has a work ethic and not a superstar mentality.”
With the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship fast approaching, the former PBA Most Valuable Player said that all the players are hard at work trying to quickly learn how Baldwin wants them to play.
“Everybody is trying to fit in and everybody is trying to learn coach Tab’s system,” said Taulava. “The level is so high now, when we practice coach sometimes tells us to take it easy, but everybody is going and everybody just follows.”
CNN Philippines’ Jan Ballesteros contributed to this report.
