Arwind Santos has drawn the ire of pretty much the entire Barangay Ginebra fan base for varying reasons.
Basically everything that Santos has done has made him biggest antagonist in the eyes of the Ginebra fateful, and not helping was his hit on Scottie Thompson during Game 2 of the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
And whenever the 2013 MVP took the floor in Game 3 Wednesday night, thousands of those who are cheering for the Gin Kings would collectively shower Santos with a chorus of boos.
READ: Tim Cone left ’embarrassed’ by Ginebra’s 38-point loss to San Miguel
Santos, however, doesn’t mind the choir of negativity singing him scoffing sonatas, choosing to turn the other cheek.
“I’m just focused on our game because this conference is very important to us and if there are people who are riled up by my actions then I’ll only do one thing to respond to it and that’s to pray for them,” said Santos in Filipino Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“I just think that they’re fans of San Miguel, so whenever I hold the ball and they start to boo I just think to myself that they’re really impressed with what I do. I feel that their boos automatically translate to ‘I love you.’”
READ: PBA Finals: San Miguel clobbers Ginebra by 38 points for 2-1 lead
Santos, who is usually a well-mannered person off the court, had one more reason to shrug off the jeers from the predominantly pro-Ginebra crowd inside the Big Dome as his Beermen took a 2-1 series lead after annihilating the Gin Kings 132-94.
The Beermen’s Game 3 blowout followed a masterful Game 2 performance when they bludgeoned the Gin Kings 134-109, the highest offensive output since Ginebra beat San Miguel 146-111 in Game 4 of the 2007 Philippine Cup finals.
San Miguel’s 38-point blowout in Game 3 also tied the biggest winning margin in PBA finals history, a record Alaska once owned solely when it beat the Beermen 99-61 in Game 6 of the 1998 Philippine Cup.
READ: Renaldo Balkman shrugs off ‘war wound’ to keep Beermen going
Santos said the two consecutive blowouts are a result of their intense focus, something that they didn’t display in Game 1 when they got ransacked, 127-99.
“It helps us that we know that we can blow them out if we just continue to execute our plays and that we play defense properly,” said Santos who had 11 points, four rebounds, four steals, and one block in Game 3. “Actually we were surprised that we were already building a big lead.”
The Beermen had played Ginebra’s passing lanes to perfection, coming away with 15 steals and forcing the Gin Kings to 21 turnovers.
San Miguel also outrebounded the Gin Kings, 55-41, 22-8 in the offensive glass, and those extra possessions translated to 32 second-chance points.
“We never realized that we were ahead by a big margin, all we know is we were playing good defense and running in transition once we get a chance.”