Mo Tautuaa and Christian Standhardinger meet their former teams for the first time as San Miguel Beer aims to snatch solo second against NorthPort in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Attention will be on Tautuaa and Standhardinger, who switched teams in a trade last Oct. 14, as they look to play key roles for their new teams in the second game of the doubleheader set at 7 p.m.
Tautuaa already made his debut last Sunday when SMB came back to beat Columbian, 113-107, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
He scored all of his 10 points in the first quarter as the Beermen tied the NLEX Road Warriors at 5-1.
Asked of the faceoff with his ex-team, Tautuaa warned that the Batang Pier are a team the Beermen can’t take lightly despite its record of 2-4.
NorthPort also enters the match with a new import in NBA G-League veteran Michael Qualls, who replaced Mychal Ammons.
Qualls played for Arkansas in the US NCAA before having pro stints in Israel and Italy. He also played for the Salt Lake City Stars, Texas Legends and Wisconsin Herd in the G-League.
“It’s gonna be a good game,” said Tautuaa. “I know what that team is capable of so we still gotta come out strong and I just wanna win. That’s what our team needs and that’s what I wanna do.”
Standhardinger is out to take advantage of his new surroundings and play a key role in the Batang Pier’s quest to enhance their playoff chances.
Blackwater and Rain or Shine square off in the 4:30 p.m. curtain raiser as the two struggling teams try to improve their playoff chances.
The Elite are tied with the Batang Pier for eighth at 2-4 while the Elasto Painters have dropped four in a row to fall 1-5 in the standings.
Rain or Shine will also parade a new import in Kwame Alexander, who had a stint with NLEX in the 2015 Governors’ Cup.
Alexander is the Elasto Painters’ third import this conference after Joel Wright and Kayel Locke. (Jonas Terrado)
