 |
| Spiderman, Spiderman, wherefore art thou Spiderman? (Photo courtesy of Sports5) |
Those are the numbers that the reigning PBA Most Valuable Player Arwind Santos of the Petron Blaze Boosters turned in to vanquish Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Quarterfinals of the PBA Governor's Cup. Before that, he was good for 13 points and 8 rebounds. In the Semifinals versus Rain or Shine where he faced a myriad of do-it-all, gung ho forwards he was still good for 9 and 9.
In the recently concluded PBA Governor's Cup Finals versus the San Mig Coffee Mixers, Santos could only muster 8 and 3.
We can live with the 8 points given the team's emphasis in dumping the ball to promising big man Junemar Fajardo and the presence of high scoring import Elijah Millsap. We can live with the lessened participance on offense, but on defense?
Where's the effort? Where's the hustle?
Where is Arwind Santos?
From the outside looking in, we can't blame Santos for putting up un-Santos-like numbers. The system changed from a loose, freelancing model to a more structured one that puts the emphasis on Fajardo in the post and Millsap being the prime operator from outside. Santos thrives in freelancing (probably the best at it as proven by his annual averages of 15 and 9 despite not having a reliable jumpshot or post up move). Ask him to set up shop outside and you'd be lucky if he sinks half of his shots. Ask him to stay in the pivot and chances are, if someone is as tall and athletic as he is (Marqus Blakely, Marc Pingris, Joe DeVance) he's not going to be able to score on putbacks as he used to (age, bad habits).
There was a sports mind who shared somewhere that Santos "has developed one too many bad habits."
In this series, it was on full display.
Having relied so much on his freakish athleticism, Santos failed to develop his overall basketball skill set opting to go by as a "Jack of all trades, Master of none" type. We can't argue with it because it was validated by him winning the prestigious PBA MVP award. But all the flaws, all the small details that Santos chose to bypass because he was so damn naturally gifted, it was put out on display (by design or a byproduct by the Mixers' defense).
In the small chances that he was left open to maybe shoot a simple jumpshot, Santos couldn't hit because it wasn't his natural move. Either he takes a dribble closer and uses the glass or he's all the way outside (where he's least effective) jacking up flat footed threes. He was easily boxed out of rebounding position by his rivals-- blame it on lack of positioning first, fire second. He blew defensive assignments easily when he should've been the Boosters' token stopper.
Moving forward, the PBA MVP has never had this God-awful a stretch in recent memory. Even when he was jacking up shots, he was able to cover for it by doing the little things (making stops, rebounding, challenging shots with his strong, wiry arms). All Santos needs to do is to go back to what has brought him to the big dance, to what has given him so much.
With Fajardo clearly being the team's new Alpha going forward, Santos needs to either learn to play the 3 full time, or become a weak side operator (Bitoy Omolon comes to mind) playing opposite a dominant big man (Dennis Espino).
Time to go back to the basics for the PBA MVP.
He's not deserving. LA Tenorio leads all candidates in terms of statistical points. Arwind just won because of media votes. So his award doesn't mean Most Valuable Player, but instead Media's Valuable Player.
ReplyDelete