Santos arrives late for game, makes up for it with 2nd period burst

Arwind Santos shoots over James Yap. PBA IMAGES

For Arwind Santos, it’s better late than never.

Santos made it to Mall of Asia Arena just in the nick of time after he thought the team’s call time for its game against Rain or Shine on Saturday was at 5 p.m., not at 3 p.m.

“I was the last one in and the game was already on when I arrived. I’m lucky I made it and nobody got mad,” he said in Filipino.

Santos had to do streches on the sidelines while the game was on going, hoping coach Leo Austria would call his number.  Santos was called to the court with 39 seconds left in the first quarter.

Luckily, even without any warmups and shootaround, Santos got into rhythm right away and delivered all of his 13 points in the Beermen’s   31-point second quarter pullaway to gain control of the game and cruise to the 111-98 victory over Rain or Shine.

The former PBA MVP was just glad to have been given the minutes to atone for his shortcomings for the team.

“I remember before when I was young, when I committed a sin like if my grades are low, I had to do something so that my parents won’t get mad at me. I have to fetch water so that they won’t scold me that much,” he said. “That’s the same with our team, and I’m thankful that they still gave me a chance to perform and help our squad.”

It was a humbling experience for one of San Miguel’s team captains, sharing that no one in the San Miguel locker room would like to disturb the great flow the team is having so far this 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

“We’re enjoying ourselves and you don’t want to be the one to ruin our camaraderie,” he said. “You want to protect that and care for each other. Nobody wants to be the reason for our failure because we’re aspiring for something great. We’re 5-0 because of our chemistry and we hope that whatever challenges we face, we can move past those.”