The San Miguel Beermen are in an unfamiliar place early in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup.
The defending champions have went winless in their first two assignments. Sunday evening, they bowed to Raymond Almazan and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 123-119, in a bout that needed five more minutes.
But Arwind Santos remained calm and collected, saying that it’s too early in the mid-season tilt to go on panic mode.
“Oo naman (alarmed). Siyempre maikli lang yung season, importante yung panalo. Kaso yun nga, 0-2. Pero ang maganda rito, may pag-asa pa naman kami, at malayo pa,” expressed Santos, who led San Miguel in the loss with 29 points.
“Pwede pa rin namin makuha yung top two. Yun ang goal namin eh, makuha yung top two. Pero kung hindi kami papalarin, ganun talaga buhay, hindi laging doon ka sa ibabaw, minsan nandudun ka rin sa ilalim.”
Moreover, the 12-year pro also mentioned something that made him upbeat despite the loss: the integration of Christian Standhardinger into the mix.
The Filipino-German played over 35 minutes, as he had to fill in the void made by import Troy Gillenwater — the American cager got booted out of the match in the first half as he apparently bumped one of the game’s officials.
Standhardinger had 17 points and 15 rebounds with four dimes, indeed a much better production from Gillenwater, who only scored 11 and had three boards.
“Hindi naman namin nakita na malaking kawalan yung import namin, kasi marami nang beses dumaan ang San Miguel sa ganyang sitwasyon,” shared the former league Most Valuable Player, who has been with the Beermen since 2009.
“Lalo na andyan si Christian — malaking bagay kahit wala kang import, may kapalitan si June Mar (Fajardo) o may kapalitan din ako.”
Despite all the positivity Santos showed, the 12-year league veteran dropped a hint that some changes might take place soon within the Beermen — what kind of changes would that be, however, has yet to be determined.
“May mga adjustment kaming gagawin, and — di ko lang alam — baka may changes kami,” disclosed Santos.
“May sinabi yung mga coaches na may changes, so sila na bahala dun.”
