Taha is expected to be relegated to the bench this season to add more punch to the Blazers’ second unit. A proven contributor, he started in most of the team’s games last year, averaging 12.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, and 1.5 apg in 24 minutes of play, while hitting 51 percent from the floor. A transferee from San Sebastian, the 20-year-old Iloilo native is half-Arabian.
Tallo is being groomed to be the next big thing to come out of basketball-crazy Cebu. And there are a lot of good reasons for it. The 5-foot-10 point guard was the Most Valuable Player of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation (CESAFI) juniors division in 2009 as the main man of Cebu Eastern College. He was also adjudged MVP of Jr. NBA, and won several other individual cage honors in the country. Initially, he agreed to play for Ateneo, but shocked everybody when he decided to bolt for rival school De La Salle, citing the lack of playing exposure from Blue Eagles coach Norman Black. He’s the son of ex-Cebuano hotshot and former PBA player Mark Anthony Tallo
At 5-foot-10, he has the mentality of a shooting guard who never hesitates to take a jumper or drive straight to the basket. Tampus was the Archers’ third-leading scorer in 2011 behind a 7.3 ppg average, and the player with the most number of attempts with 107. Before joining the team, the Cebu native played for the Letran Squires in the NCAA, with whom he won the Rookie of the Year award in 2008.
Tan came aboard carrying solid credentials, having been part of Xavier’s championship dynasty in the Tiong Lian Basketball League. The 5-foot-seven point guard played in all 14 games of the Tigers in his rookie year, and piled up a total of 12 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals.
He’s one of the seniors in the Blazers’ roster and is a strong candidate to be the team captain this season. The 6-foot-5 center provides leadership both on and off the court, and logged a team-high 5.2 rpg, along with 6.6 ppg in 20.5 minutes of action.