San Miguel Beermen at the 2019 PBA Media Day. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Arwind Santos is ready to put Terrence Romeo under his guidance.
San Miguel’s veteran leader said he wants to help Romeo get out of the public’s perception as being a cancerous teammate.
Romeo has been the subject of unwarranted public scrutiny after the three-time scoring champion got dealt from NorthPort, the team that drafted the offensive guard, to TNT and then to the Beermen in the 2017-18 season.
“People always say ‘oh, you have a curse of a teammate with you now’ and we don’t want that to happen to Terrence,” said Santos in Filipino after the Beermen lost to Columbian 124-118 in the PBA Philippine Cup Friday at Cuneta Astrodome.
“Terrence is one of the guys I really want to help because he’s someone that usually gets judged by those who watch the PBA. We want to correct the bad comments thrown at him because I know that feeling.”
Santos said that even if Romeo doesn’t show it, his new teammate is greatly affected especially since San Miguel, which is gunning for a fifth straight Philippine Cup title, lost to the perennial cellar-dwelling Dyip.
“Of course Terrence is the one hurt by most of these harsh words because he lost in his first game and to Columbian of all teams.”
Santos added that the Romeo who’s been with them is vastly different from the one the public views.
The 2013 MVP said their new teammate is a fun-loving guy who just wants to play basketball.
“Terrence is a kind guy, he also likes to joke around and have fun,” said Santos who tied his career-high of 34 points in the loss to Columbian. “There were times when we almost went at each other but that’s just his persona on the court because he doesn’t back down and he just wants to win.”
“We can’t just judge the person from what we see on the surface and immediately label him as a bad person. We should try to know him better and every person has a kindness within him or her. Terrence wouldn’t get to the PBA if he doesn’t have any goodness in him.”