Gilas Pilipinas’ second home game in the fifth window of the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers had a special meaning to Arwind Santos.
Besides making his national team return after nine years, this was the first time Santos was playing for the Philippine team on home soil. This was the 37-year-old’s Gilas home debut.
And once he was plugged in during the second stanza of Gilas’ game against Iran, the crowd exploded. Then with 39 seconds left in the first half, Santos scored his first bucket. Gilas’ sixth man went into a euphoria.
“Ginanahan na ako nun eh kasi di ba lahat naman ng players, pag nakaka-shoot, ginaganahan,” the 2013 PBA Most Valuable Player recalled about that moment.
However, he did not return to the floor afterwards.
On the sidelines, Santos saw Gilas give up an eight-point lead early in the final frame to fall 70-78 — a loss that dropped the Philippines to fourth place in Group F.
“Bitin, bitin, bitin. Sobrang bitin ako. Bitin tapos nakakapanghinayang.
“Lamang tayo, dikdikan yung laro, nag-collapse tayo bigla nung huli. Yun lang. Sana magkaroon pa tayo ng pag-asa para mag-qualify kahit papaano,” he expressed.
Entering the window, Santos was dubbed as the ‘Bahrami’-stopper. With the Iranian out though, maybe he lost his role as well. Santos though felt that he could have brought another dimension to the team’s defense especially in the end game.
When Marcio Lassiter fouled out with 54.3 seconds left, 6-foot-1 Scottie Thompson was called up to defend the 6-foot-5 Behnam Yakhchali. Yakhchali saw this as an advantage, knocking down a jumper over Thompson that proved to be the game’s go-ahead bucket.
“Nag-expect ako na makakabalik ako kahit saglit nung third tsaka fourth quarter. Pero hindi ako nakabalik, lalo na yung mga ganung crucial pukpukan, parang alam mo yun, sanay ako sa ganun eh.
“Hindi ko sinasabi na hindi tayo makakatulong, pero kahit papaano, defense saka sa offense yung mga crucial shots, isa yun sa gusto ko. Hindi natin masabi pero coach Yeng [Guiao] yun eh, mataas ang respeto natin dun eh,” thought the versatile 6-foot-4 forward.
Still, Santos is not holding any grudges. And he hopes to be part of the crucial sixth window come February.
“Tingin ko medyo kulang ang materyales. Konti lang naman ang diperensya siguro, tsaka tapos yung preparation natin medyo kulang din. Dapat medyo mahaba yung preparation namin para mas na-adopt namin yung sistema ni Coach Yeng,” he opined.
“Sana makasama ulit tayo.”
