Petron fizzles out

Santos and Cabagnot failed
to deliver for Petron

So much for the Petron Blaze Boosters' Commissioner's Cup run.

So much for Alex Cabagnot's steady rise as the league's number one point guard.

So much for Arwind Santos winning his first Most Valuable Player award.




With the departure of Nick Fazekas, the Boosters' management wanted to have a legit back to the basket big man who could muscle his way into the paint. What they didn't consider that outside of Fazekas, they were still a team that was relying heavily on elite "Scottie Pippen" type players.

Santos will give you the lockdown defense, double digit scoring and rebounds. What he cannot be expected to provide game in and out is 20 plus points. Same with point guard Alex Cabagnot, who suddenly went back to his old, passive ways that we Santa Lucia die-hards are all too familiar with. It also didn't help the Boosters cause that they were playing their second conference without star guard Dondon Hontiveros and also super rookie Chris Lutz who was lost to nagging injuries.

When those three are on the floor for the Boosters, they're pretty hard to stop (unless you're the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters) but with two playing poorly and another in street clothes-- that's a whole different story.

It's unfortunate because, the Boosters had the type of import that they needed. It was more of the locals failing to play their usual games and provide ample support.

Think about it.

Fazekas was dropping 30 and 20s a game for the Boosters, and while they weren't winning as much, it was more because Santos and Cabagnot were on auto-pilot rather than what their girly-running import was doing on the floor.

Coach Ato Agustin, for all his sophomore PBA coaching brilliance, was unable to make the necessary adjustments needed for his team to win. Once Fazekas was out of the picture, they needed scoring-- not defense. Cabagnot was stuggling, so why didn't they go with Denok Miranda and Joseph Yeo full time?

That's the difference between Agustin and rival Coach Chot Reyes-- the latter isn't afraid of throwing struggling players under the bus to challenge them to do better. Agustin, being a player's coach, rides and dies with his stars (a nice and commendable trait to have, but not when you're itching for another title).

All these off court distractions about if and when Powerade's Marcio Lassiter joins the Boosters' ship has clearly taken its toll with the team. With guys not delivering probably in support of their teammates whose names were being dragged into the rumormill.

Whatever it is, it's not yet too late for the Boosters to recover (much like they did last year) in time for the Governor's Cup. Rabeh Al Hussaini's slowly coming back, Rey Guevarra has been making some cameos and that Lassiter trade may not be over yet (according to a bunch of PBA circles, it's still in the works-- just put on the backburner, but still cooking).