Arwind Santos, Abanilla need to get act together

GAME TOMORROW

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)

8 p.m.—Petron Blaze vs San Mig Coffee

ARWIND SANTOS is playing everything but the MVP awardee who was honored just two games ago and Petron Blaze,  the heavy favorite before the start of the best-of-seven series for the PBA Governors’ Cup against San Mig Coffee, is now in grave danger of missing the title.

Santos was on the bench from the 8:51 mark of the third period until the final 2:04 of the game that the Mixers won impressively, 114-103, Sunday night and drove the Boosters on the brink after inflicting a second straight loss.

Petron coach Gee Abanilla said he didn’t forget about Santos.

“It was a coaching decision,” Abanilla said. “I just thought that some of the (other) players were playing really well. It was also a matter of match-ups. We felt that we needed someone quicker.”

Still, it was kind of odd for most to see the Boosters trying to bounce back from several double-digit deficits without the supposed best player of the season.

“We need him in this series,” Abanilla said after using Santos just 18 minutes and getting season-low outputs in points and rebounds with two and four, respectively.

“Before this game I had a talk with him. I reassured him that our confidence is still with him,” added Abanilla. “He’s been hearing a lot of things in social media and I assured him that the team is backing him up and I believe in him.”

Santos won the MVP in the tightest race in league history over Barangay Ginebra spitfire LA Tenorio, who, according to unconfirmed reports, was the choice of even some of Santos’ teammates at Petron. Tenorio won the players’ votes overall.

Santos said he is not questioning the wisdom of Abanilla, and that they are not in any way at odds with each other.

“I think it’s because of the way I am being used,” Santos said in Filipino. “During the winning streak, I was used as a (No.) 4 (power forward), now, after the (MVP) award, I am being used as a (No.) 3 (shooting forward).”