Boosters look rusty

Walang himala! Asan na ung laro ni Arwind?

Two games, both losses, into the Commissioner’s Cup and the Petron Blaze Boosters find themselves at the bottom of the standings in games that showed an uncharacteristic lack of focus, interest and energy.

Save for star import Nick Fazekas who has dropped back to back 30 point games, the Boosters seem to be having problems rotation-wise with the personnel on the floor. Given the names on the coaching staff and on the roster, we’re pretty sure that they’ll turn it around in this shortened conference in time for a Playoff push but still, you don’t really expect a perennial title contender losing by 20 to a chief rival’s “still in its infancy stages” basketball team.


First, there’s KKS’ The Wizard (let’s drop the cereal brand until his next clutch game) Alex Cabagnot who was coming off a superb Philippine Cup wherein he made a strong case for being the PBA’s number 1 point guard before being undressed in the latter stages of the Finals by incumbent Jimmy “Mighty Mouse” Alapag. Currently averaging a decent-but-not-stellar 11 points and 7 assists in 41 minutes of burn, Cabagnot hasn’t been pushing the tempo for the Boosters as he did last conference.

Then there’s Arwind “Spiderman” Santos, who was pretty much two conferences away from having his name engraved on the Most Valuable Player trophy, who is putting up the worst numbers of his professional career with 5 points and 8 rebounds in 36 minutes. The only difference between Cabagnot and Santos is effort. Cabagnot thrives on pushing the basketball and, by virtue, so does his team. Santos on the other hand, is but a victim of circumstance. He’s still trying to play the same way, but the addition of a 7”0 import has forced him to familiar yet uncomfortable territory.

Santos has the size, speed and athleticism to play several positions on defense. Yes. We agree and this should never be questioned. Offense though, is a different subject. Yes he can be relied upon to handle the basketball from time to time. And yes, he knows enough to make correct entry and exit passes. But no, you’d be playing PBA Fantasy if you expect Santos to ask for an isolation and try to drive the ball to the basket or post someone up point blank.

Last conference, when Santos was posting ridiculous 20-20 statlines, he played more power forward. Most of his field goals came closer to the basket (with the high arching three point shot added in for good measure) and the rebounds both offensively and defensively. This conference, Boosters’ coach Ato Agustin has chosen to slide Santos to the small forward spot. Bad move.

In the game against Ginebra, rookie Dylan Ababou used his heft to go through Santos while Santos couldn’t do as much offensively. Kerby Raymundo also made Santos concentrate on defense. Throw in a freak like Rudy Hatfield and well, that cancels out the 20 rebound statline.

Last night, versus the Meralco Bolts, Santos guarded Mark Borboran- a natural small forward with dribble-drive abilities. Normally, Santos would’ve shut down guys like Borboran or at least kept them from getting a double double. Not the case. On offense, Santos was jacking up threes reminiscent of his ugly showing during his time with the National Team that drove us all nuts.

Still, the blame isn’t on Santos. It’s on Agustin and the coaching staff.

On paper, a frontline of Santos, Rob Reyes and Fazekas is as monstrous as you could get in the PBA. On the court, Santos cancels out whatever pluses Reyes brings to the table—rebounding, and vice versa. With Fazekas and Reyes on the floor, Santos is obligated to move outside the perimeter where he isn’t as comfortable (outside of 17 feet and Santos is strictly a three point jumpshooter).

A better alternative and one that coach Ato may want to consider is to move Santos back to PF, Chris Lutz at SF, Denok Miranda/ Joseph Yeo at SG and Cabagnot exclusively at PG. This is the Boosters’ best line-up in my book. Rob Reyes is nice, but he’s not half the player Danny Ildefonso is—even at Demolition Danny’s regressed state. Even then, they already have Fazekas at the slot so there’s really no need for all the confusion.

That, or Santos starts shooting like Gary David and we'd change his monicker from Spiderman to Spider-Bomber.

Trading for Marcio Lassiter would solve so many problems for the Boosters this conference, or maybe they could consider dusting off Nonoy Baclao and make him play PF alongside Santos wherein they could switch on every single play much like the Santos-Jay Washington experiment from last season.

Fortunately for the Boosters, we're only 2 games into the Commissioner's Cup and there's still time to right the ship.