Arwind Santos on Terrence Romeo: ‘He needs to control his emotions’

MANILA, Philippines—A veteran of countless finals appearances, Arwind Santos has learned how to keep his cool in testy situations.

Same can’t be said about his teammate Terrence Romeo.

In the fourth quarter of San Miguel’s 108-101 Game 2 win over Magnolia, Romeo, who is in his first finals series, let the emotions get the best of him and got a couple of technical fouls that led to his ejection.

Santos, who has been to 12 finals series including this one against the Hotshots, said Romeo should learn to keep his cool in the finals especially when their team is already in the lead.

READ: Leo Austria puts positive spin on Terrence Romeo’s outburst: ‘He’s a warrior, he wants to win’

“Terrence really has that emotion, that he can’t be controlled sometimes,” said Santos in Filipino Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “When he got his first technical, he was extremely mad, and his emotion changed really quick.”

“My request to Terrence is he needs to control his emotions in that kind of situation. We were up, we’re already winning, he shouldn’t be doing that kind of stuff because that will cause negative vibes on the team.”

Romeo first threw a hard pass to Peter Balao that resulted to his first technical, but he wasn’t done there since he continued to shout profanities at the game official on his way to the locker room with 6:23 left to play.

San Miguel governor Robert Non tried to pacify Romeo but it was to no avail, and veteran Beermen Alex Cabagnot’s efforts all fell on deaf ears.

Santos, who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, hoped that Romeo wouldn’t be suspended in Game 3 especially with the series now tied at 1-1.

“Terrence did say bad words at the referee that’s why he got a technical, and I hope he doesn’t get suspended because Terrence is an important player for us and he helps us a lot,” said Santos.

“The problem with Terrence is when his nose starts smoking, even his ears will start to blow up, he won’t listen to anyone,” added Santos. “I talked to him but he turned back to the referee and the referee heard it. If only I could cover his mouth, but he already said what he said.”