Santi Santillan couldn’t help but lament the situation Rain or Shine has gotten into now that its two highly-touted rookie big men are out due to injuries.
The Elasto Painters will miss Keith Datu indefinitely due to a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL), a tough blow to a squad that’s still dealing with the prolonged absence of Luis Villegas after suffering a foot injury during practice.
“Bagsak ‘yung team namin ngayon,” the third-year forward said moments after their 109-97 loss to San Miguel that kept them listless in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup, Friday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“Yung dalawang pick namin na maaasahan sana namin this conference, All-Filipino pa naman. Makikita niyo ‘yung lineup namin, malalaki tapos mga bata pa. Malaking tulong si Luis tsaka si Keith this conference sana,” he added.
Villegas has yet to see action in his first year in the league but Datu alone has impacted Rain or Shine right away, posting solid per-game averages of 11.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in the Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup.
He was starting to pick it up in the ongoing Philippine Cup until he got hurt versus Ginebra last March 8, which was later found out to be an MCL injury.
There’s been much excitement surrounding the Elasto Painters after getting Datu and Villegas with the third and fourth picks in the last Rookie Draft but the team has yet to tap into their potential with them around due to the setbacks.
That’s leaving the mainstays like Santillan to keep on taking the cudgels like what he showed against the Beermen, where he turned in career-highs of 31 points and 14 rebounds albeit, unfortunately, in yet another losing effort.
RoS has fallen to 0-4 in the season-ending conference and the Cebuano winger said that it’s all on the Elasto Painters on how they’d turn things around.
They have a chance to post their first win of the tilt against the 1-2 Phoenix on Sunday, March 17, 3 p.m. at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
“Wala namang kwenta ‘yung career-high ko ‘pag talo,” said Santillan, who also shot 66-percent from the floor. “Mas maganda sana ‘pag panalo.
“Ayun nga, anong next na gagawin namin? Continue pa rin kami matatalo, o may gagawin kami para manalo? Let’s see kung anong mangyayari sa next game namin sa Sunday,” the La Salle Green Archer added.
