After regaining his confidence in Cebu, Mark Tallo is ready to make his mark in the PCCL

It is often said that the measure of a man lies on the choices that he makes and the results of those said decisions. For Cebuano guard Mark Jayven Tallo, he faces the challenges of living up to and standing by the result of his controversial and unpopular moves from not just one, but two of the country’s pre-eminent collegiate basketball programs, Ateneo and La Salle, and back to his hometown, with the chance to resurrect his fledgling career.
 
From the outside looking in, conventional wisdom tells you that the 6'0" lead guard erred in shunning the Blue Eagles in favor of their hated rivals, the Green Archers. To take it another step further, common sense tells you that leaving behind the bright lights of Manila in exchange for the muted exposure of the Cebu basketball scene might not be the brightest idea.

[Related: A tale of two transfers - Nico Elorde and Mac Mac Tallo]
 
But then again, Tallo is not conventional, nor does he play with the same motor that guards employ, both here in Cebu or in Manila. Equal parts fast and furious, Tallo was the toast of the town back in 2009 when, as a junior, he led a bunch of no-names from the Cebu Institute of Technology-University all the way to the juniors title in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc (Cesafi). That magical run was capped off with him being named as the season, All-Star and Finals MVP.
 
Suddenly, recruiters’ radars were tuned in to this gangly young gun who was breaking ankles not just in tournament play but also in different “ligang labas” all over the region. A massive recruitment battle was waged by both Ateneo and La Salle with the former eventually prevailing. However, that partnership did not even make it out of the honeymoon stage as what Tallo perceived to be a lack of playing time during a preseason tournament led him to transfer to La Salle.
 
That decision did not pay dividends as well, as he suited up in just 10 games during the 2011 season, logging 11 minutes per game and tallying a measly 1.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists. With his playing time coming and going under former La Salle head coach Gee Abanilla, and with the recruitment of yet another wunderkind guard in Bacolod’s Kib Montalbo, Tallo felt that it was time to push the reset button on his collegiate career. He found that button in the place where it all started: Cebu.
 
It’s a humid Thursday morning at the rundown homecourt of the Southwestern University Cobras, a place longtime basketball aficionados often refer to as the “Cobras’ Pit,” where current PBA players Cyrus Baguio and Eliud Poligrates once trod. It’s just a few days before the Cobras travel to Manila to compete in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League' Final Four, and Tallo, with sweat steadily streaming after doing some shooting drills a few moments earlier, hears the countdown in his head.
 
But he wants to be clear about it: this campaign is not a tour of vengeance, especially against his former team, La Salle, or the other Manila squads that raised their collective eyebrows when he left Manila. Rather, this is a crusade of vindication, fueled by the whispers that he heard loud and clear all the way from Cebu.
 
'Tallo went back home because he couldn’t crack the guard rotation of La Salle.'

'Mac left because he wasn’t getting enough playing time.'

'Magaling lang si Mac sa Cebu.'

He heard all these and with a calm carefully masking the fire bubbling underneath, he spoke of his intentions once he got back to the big stage.
 
“I just want to prove that I belong with them, with the big guns in Manila. Gusto ko lang ipakita sa kanila just how much I’ve improved and that kaya ko lumaro with them,” said Tallo.
 

 
 

For Tallo, the decision to transfer schools was never personal. But you can be sure that come the PCCL, he’ll be pounding the rock with a lot more gusto and driving to the rack with a little more purpose than usual. According to him, he owes SWU that much for helping him make good on his decision to move back home and revive a collegiate career that many thought would be a one-way ticket to the pros, or at the very least amateur stardom.
 
But as fate would have it, instead of rolling with the most-recognized face in all of collegiate basketball, Kiefer Ravena over at Ateneo, he has to be content with running pick-and-rolls with unknowns like Bernie Bregondo and Daryl Goloran. Instead of dishing it off to UAAP Finals MVP Jeron Teng, he has to make do with passing it to wingmen Monbert Arong and Adams Mohammed. Be that as they may, Tallo feels that it was the best decision that he had to make considering his options at the time.
 
“It was a great decision to come back home and play here. SWU helped me get my game back on track. They helped me get my confidence through the trust that I’ve earned from them,” Tallo explained in earnest.
 
Confidence – the blessing and the curse of many basketball greats. In the game of basketball, it’s an absolute must. There’s no room for the meek out on the hardcourt and Tallo felt that with La Salle, he was turning into a lamb more than lion.
 
“Sa La Salle, wala na talaga akong kumpyansa. I had to adjust to their system but I had a very hard time doing so while battling homesickness at the same time. I had to survive but it was a real hard stage of my life,” narrated the 20-year old.
 
In the summer of 2013, Tallo officially joined the practices of the Cobras and was instantly given the reins of a team that won the Cesafi championship the previous year. Led by Cameroonian forward Ben Mbala, SWU won the seniors title in a tightly-fought finals series over the University of the Visayas. Mbala though, transferred to La Salle in the offseason and is currently red-shirting for his much-anticipated debut in 2015.
 
However, it wasn’t just Mbala that went away. Also gone was the starting backcourt of the Cobras, led by Joseph Nalos, who transferred to Adamson, leaving the perfect opportunity for Tallo. Wanting for a star and a marquee name to fill the void, Tallo quickly stepped up. It was a marriage made in basketball heaven as Tallo went to work right away that summer, dueling with eventual UAAP MVP Terrence Romeo in the Collegiate Invitational Cup here in Cebu.
 
While Romeo had the last laugh, sinking a three-pointer with a second remaining in overtime to lift the Far Eastern University over SWU, 79-78, Tallo more than held his own, scoring 18 to the former’s 26. With his confidence bolstered, Tallo ran amok in the Cesafi.SWU head coach Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba specifically reminded him to “play like you’re in high school,” and Tallo obliged, dazzling fans and foes alike en route to winning Most Valuable Player honors.
 
“There was a lot of pressure heading into my first game. There were a lot of critics that had things to say about me coming back here but Coach Yayoy just told me to play my game. He really gave me a lot of confidence,” shared Tallo.

 
 

His morale boosted, Tallo helped carry the Cobras back into the Finals, where they zoomed ahead, 2-0, in the best-of-five series against bitter rivals, the UV Green Lancers. Ranged against a team that ironically, donned the green and white, Tallo blew hot and cold. While SWU claimed the first two games of the series, Tallo just could not get his game going against the physical defense of the Green Lancers, turning the ball over eight times in game one before bouncing back with 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals in the ensuing encounter.
 
“UV really knows how to defend me and the plays that we like to run especially the pick-and-roll. I knew I had to improve if we were to beat them in that series,” narrated Tallo.
 
With the defense constantly collapsing on him, Tallo found other ways to be effective, dishing out 14 assists in game three, which SWU lost in double overtime, 89-82, thus leaving the door slightly ajar for the Lancers to make a comeback. Though he scored 28 points in game four, validating the MVP award he received earlier in that day, the Cobras still lost, 71-66, setting up a winner-take-all Game Five.
 
As mentioned earlier, confidence is a tool paramount to success on hardwood, even more so when the stakes are at their highest. And with the title on the line, the game tied at 62-all, with under a minute left in what was already a wild game marred by technical mishaps, Tallo stepped up to the plate, oozing of it.
 
With the seconds slowly ticking away, his head coach bellowing to execute the double-high screen play, Tallo opted to wave off the helpers and square up his defender in his sights with an isolation play on the left side of the floor. One juke step to the right, a crossover dribble to the left and the shot was off. High-arcing, straight and true, but a centimeter too long. It clanked high off the back rim and into the hands of the Green Lancers.
 
That eventually led to UV getting a put-back to go in with 0.6 of a second left, thus putting them in front, 64-62. Tallo had another shot at redemption but his hail-mary was not answered as time expired, leaving him in a crumpled pile of agony on their bench, in stark contrast to the raucous UV celebration going on around him. He finished that game with just 12 points and one assist.
 
At the wrong time, confidence can be a curse and Tallo himself admitted to that much later on.
 
“That was not the play. It was loud. I could not hear anything but the crowd. My defender was backing up, so I decided to go through with it. I was confident that it would go in but it didn’t. It was a lesson learned pero di na yun maibabalik,” said Tallo, the only time in the conversation that he ever expressed regret over anything.
 
You see, this is a young man who had to make tough decisions and stand by them in order to pursue a dream. The locales may have changed, the lights might be dimmer and the crowds thinner, but the thirst to make it to the big leagues remains unquenched.
 
“I’ve got a lot to prove, that I’m not only good in my hometown. I just want to go there and beat the champion teams,” boldly declared Tallo. - AMD, GMA News

Postscript: In the PCCL Final Four, Tallo finished with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists as his team upset the DLSU Green Archers in overtime, Monday. However, they came crashing back down to Earth versus the San Beda Red Lions on Tuesday. They're now in a must-win situation against the FEU Tamaraws on Thursday, for the right to advance to the tourney Finals.