Juan Paolo S. Taha (born December 5, 1990) is a Filipino basketball player for the

NorthPort Batang Pier The NorthPort Batang Pier is a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team that first played in the 2012–13 PBA season. The team took over the franchise of the Powerade Tigers in 2012 after it was sold to Sultan 900 Capital, Inc. Besides No ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA). He was drafted 29th overall by the Kia Sorento in the 2014 PBA draft.

College career

Taha played for the

Benilde Blazers The College of Saint Benilde Blazers are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines), NCAA senior varsity team of De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde. The Blazers were formerly a member National Capital Region Athletic Associat ...

in the Philippine

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

. In Season 89, he scored 24 points in a win against the

Mapua Cardinals Mapua, Māpua, or Mapúa may refer to: * Mapuá River, a river in the Pará state of north-central Brazil *Māpua, New Zealand, a small town on the South Island of New Zealand *Mapúa University, a tertiary institute in Manila, Philippines *Tomás M ...

. He had 13 rebounds in another win against the

Arellano Chiefs The Arellano University Chiefs is the athletic team of Arellano University. It is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Capital Region Athletic Association (NCRAA). The team has several intercollegiate ...

. In their rematch against Mapua, he had 25 points, 10 rebounds and another win against them. Against the

EAC Generals The Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) Generals are the varsity teams of Emilio Aguinaldo College of Paco, Manila. The Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA) is paired as the junior (high school) varsity team of the Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC). The E ...

, he injured his right shoulder. The Blazers finished with only five wins. In Season 90, the Blazers got their first victory of the season after four games. Taha had 24 points and eight rebounds in that win. Along with his teammate Mark Romero, he was named to the NCAA All–Star Game. The Blazers matched their win total from last season in their 9th game when he made a go-ahead layup and grabbed 15 rebounds to beat the

Perpetual Help Altas Perpetual, meaning "eternal", may refer to: Christianity * Perpetual curacy, a type of Christian priesthood in Anglicanism * Perpetual virginity of Mary, one of the four Marian dogmas in Catholicism Finance *Perpetual bond, a bond that pays ...

. He then had 27 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists against Arellano. Once again, the Blazers did not make the Final Four. He moved on the PBA after that season.

Professional career

GlobalPort Batang Pier

While still playing in the NCAA, Taha was drafted 29th overall by Kia in the 2014 PBA draft. But he was unsigned by Kia and was instead picked up by the

GlobalPort Batang Pier The NorthPort Batang Pier is a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team that first played in the 2012–13 PBA season. The team took over the franchise of the Powerade Tigers in 2012 after it was sold to Sultan 900 Capital, Inc. Besides Nor ...

. Early in his rookie season, he was getting praise for his defense from his superstar teammates

Alex Cabagnot Alexander Cabagnot Jr. (born December 8, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Terrafirma Dyip of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He plays the point guard position. Alex once had a rivalry with Mark Caguioa fo ...

and

Terrence Romeo Terrence Bill Vitanzos Romeo (born March 16, 1992) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He plays both the point guard and shooting guard positions. He played ...

. In his second season, Taha had 11 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in a loss against the Alaska Aces during the 2016 Commissioner's Cup. He then had 16 points off the bench against the

Star Hotshots The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc., a subsidiary of San Migu ...

. The Batang Pier did not make the playoffs that conference.

Mahindra Enforcer

After the Batang Pier were eliminated from the playoffs, Taha, along with

Jonathan Uyloan Jonathan Uyloan (born November 26, 1983) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He was undrafted and signed by the Rain or ...

, was traded to the

Mahindra Enforcer The Terrafirma Dyip is a professional basketball team playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team is owned by Terrafirma Realty Development Corporation and originally played under its affiliate company Columbian Autocar Cor ...

for guards Karl Dehesa and Michael DiGregorio. He had 10 points as Mahindra got the win in his first meeting against his former team. He was a participant for the Obstacle Challenge of the 2016 PBA All–Star Weekend. During that weekend, he signed a two-year deal with Mahindra. He then had 15 points as the team qualified for the playoffs for the 2016 Governors' Cup. In the playoffs, they lost to the

Meralco Bolts The Meralco Bolts is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team began in 2010 after the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) acquired the PBA franchise of the Sta. Lucia Realtors. The team is one of three ...

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel

After the Governors' conference, Taha was traded to the

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The most popular team in the league, it is owned by Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (formerly, La Tondeña Distillers, Inc.), a subsidia ...

for Denice Villamor and Frank Bonifacio. A year later, he won a championship in the 2017 Governors' Cup. In Game 1 of the 2017–18 Philippine Cup semifinals against the San Miguel Beermen, Taha injured his knee in the second quarter of that game.

NorthPort Batang Pier

During the 2018 Commissioner's Cup, Taha was traded back to GlobalPort for Julian Sargent. In the first game of the 2019 Philippine Cup, Taha had a PBA career-high 21 points, making all nine of his shots. He also had six rebounds in that win against the

Blackwater Elite The Blackwater Bossing is a professional basketball team owned by Ever Bilena, Inc. that is playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) beginning in the 2014–2015 season. The franchise began as one of the founding teams in the PB ...

. In that season's Commissioner's Cup, he scored 16 points in a win over the

Magnolia Hotshots The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc., a subsidiary of San Migue ...

. That win was also their fifth in six games for that conference. They finished that conference with nine wins and only two losses, but lost to the Beermen in the quarterfinals. In the Governor's Cup, NorthPort made it to the semifinals where he faced his former team Ginebra. In Game 5 of that series, he scored 21 points in the third quarter, finishing with a career-high 29 points, but it wasn't enough as the Batang Pier exited the playoffs. In the 2020 Philippine Cup, Taha and his team only had one victory, which was against the

Terrafirma Dyip The Terrafirma Dyip is a professional basketball team playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team is owned by Terrafirma Realty Development Corporation and originally played under its affiliate company Columbian Autocar Cor ...

. During the 2021 Philippine Cup, Taha scored 20 points against the

TNT Tropang Giga The TNT (cellular service), TNT Tropang Giga is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the PLDT, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Associat ...

. On February 9, 2022, he signed a three-year contract extension with NorthPort. He almost signed with

Meralco The Manila Electric Company (), also known as Meralco (, ), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 22 cities and 89 munic ...

, as he was an unrestricted free agent (UFA), but backed out when he saw NorthPort's offer. He then had 19 points as he stepped up in the absence of

Robert Bolick Robert Lee Espina Bolick Jr. (born September 13, 1995) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the NorthPort Batang Pier of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played college basketball for the San Beda Red Lions of the Nat ...

in a win over the

Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters The Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters is a professional basketball team owned by Phoenix Petroleum, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc., which debuted in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in the 2015–16 PBA season, 2016 2016 PBA Commis ...

in the Governors' Cup.

PBA career statistics

''As of the end of 2022–23 season''
Real GM

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align=left , 2014–15 GlobalPort Batang Pier season, GlobalPort , 25 , , 6.5 , , .361 , , .286 , , .647 , , .9 , , .2 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.6 , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left , GlobalPort , rowspan=2, 35 , , rowspan=2, 19.0 , , rowspan=2, .517 , , rowspan=2, .200 , , rowspan=2, .792 , , rowspan=2, 3.4 , , rowspan=2, .9 , , rowspan=2, .3 , , rowspan=2, .3 , , rowspan=2, 7.8 , - , align=left , Mahindra , - , align=left , , align=left ,

Barangay Ginebra The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The most popular team in the league, it is owned by Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (formerly, La Tondeña Distillers, Inc.), a subsidia ...

, 37 , , 5.2 , , .419 , , .429 , , .800 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .2 , , .1 , , 2.2 , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left ,

, rowspan=2, 25 , , rowspan=2, 13.3 , , rowspan=2, .522 , , rowspan=2, .200 , , rowspan=2, .826 , , rowspan=2, 2.0 , , rowspan=2, .5 , , rowspan=2, .2 , , rowspan=2, .3 , , rowspan=2, 5.5 , - , align=left , GlobalPort / NorthPort , - , align=left , , align=left , NorthPort , 40 , , 19.5 , , .439 , , .261 , , .704 , , 2.9 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .1 , , 7.6 , - , align=left , , align=left , NorthPort , 11 , , 25.8 , , .417 , , .150 , , .893 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , .0 , , 8.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , NorthPort , 23 , , 21.8 , , .530 , , .185 , , .704 , , 2.9 , , .7 , , .8 , , .1 , , 8.5 , - , align=left , , align=left , NorthPort , 25 , , 9.5 , , .415 , , .400 , , .500 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .3 , , .1 , , 2.1 , -class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 221 , , 14.3 , , .468 , , .244 , , .744 , , 2.1 , , .6 , , .4 , , .1 , , 5.4

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taha, Paolo 1990 births Living people Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players Basketball players from Metro Manila Filipino men's basketball players Terrafirma Dyip players Benilde Blazers basketball players NorthPort Batang Pier players People from Marikina Shooting guards Small forwards Terrafirma Dyip draft picks