After failing to bring the SWU-Phinma to the promise land in his final year in the CESAFI, Mark “Mac-Mac” Tallo is now carefully plotting his next move as the two-time league MVP takes stock of the lessons of the bitter setback. (FILE)
It wasn’t the blaze of glory that he had hoped for in his final year in the CESAFI cage wars.
But Southwestern University-Phinma guard Macmac Tallo is not about to let that stop him from looking forward to bigger things as he takes the next step in his basketball career.
A picture of frustration moments after the Cobras cleared the University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars to claim third place, the son of one-time PBA guard Mark Tallo refused to dwell on what if and instead turned his focus on what is to come.
“It’s frustrating but I have to move on especially when I see that I still have a lot to improve on,” said the 6-foot-1 guard. He specifically made mention of his desire to improve on his ability to consistently make perimeter shots.
After a promising start to the season where he led his Cobras to a 12-game sweep of the classification round, the bottom suddenly fell out for the flashy playmaker and his squad as they lost to the University of the Visayas in the round-robin semifinals and ultimately fell short of making it to the finals.
After being reminded of what transpired, the 22-year old scrunched his face but again hid his frustration behind the silver lining of a four-year stint here in Cebu where he rose to prominence after his confidence took a hit during failed campaigns in Ateneo and La Salle.
During his career donning the maroon and white, Tallo won two championships and two MVP awards. But still, it’s the one that got away that often nags at the greats.
“It is frustrating pero okay lang. I got to meet my teammates, got to learn a lot from my coaches and got to be with the wonderful SWU community. It was a good run. I learned a lot through the ups and downs. Ang importante is I am moving forward sa lahat ng bagay,” shared Tallo.
With the PBA D-League Draft set for next month, Tallo said that his papers are already in order and that he will fly out to Manila the moment he knows which team he is suiting up for.