MANILA, Philippines - For a squad noted for its team play rather than individual heroics, a Burger King standout stood out to clinch the Motolite/Accel-PBA Press Corps’ Player of the Week for the period March 16 to 22.
Arwind Santos put in back-to-back solid games to power the Whoppers to two victories as Burger King found itself in joint third in the early going of the PBA Fiesta Conference leaderboard.
Santos averaged 23 points, eight rebounds and 2.5 assists in Burger King’s 123-110 and 127-109 blowout wins over Barako Bull and Coca-Cola, respectively.
Those games impressed, among others, no less than coach Yeng Guiao, whose game plans have never really focused on letting just one player take the spotlight since he wants to evenly divide the playing time among members of the team.
Guiao even predicted more good things from the 27-year-old Angeles City native.
“This is the best I’ve seen him play in the PBA, so his upside is enormous, even scary. He’s just beginning to mature,” said Guiao, who did not overlook Santos when selecting members for his national pool.
“The only thing he really needs to improve on is his decision-making,” added the five-time champion coach. “But he has all the talent and skills to assert himself as one of the dominant PBA players in the years to come and I assure you this will not be his last Player of the Week award.”
What really intrigues Guiao about Santos is the latter’s numbers that come despite him being fielded for approximately 30 minutes per game.