Arwind Santos fined for Brgy. Ginebra Gin Kings ‘shadowy’ win

MANILA, Philippines — Veteran Arwind Santos cast a shadow of a doubt on Barangay Ginebra’s Game Three win over San Miguel Beer for which he was heftily fined and further heightened the rivalry between the sister teams.

That put another dimension to their semifinal duel in the PBA Philippine Cup at the MOA Arena in Game Four at 7 tonight.

The lanky Santos hinted at officiating favoring the Kings, who pulled off a 95-87 victory to cut the Beermen’s series lead to 1-2.

“What went wrong? Medyo ano eh. May mga shadow eh. Parang may mga shadow yung mga players. Parang yung lima nagiging walo. Kaya parang nahihirapan kami bantayan kasi lima lang yung kalaban, pero nagiging walo (Seems like they (Kings) have eight shadows and it’s hard for us to defend against them),” said Santos.

He was subsequently fined P20,000 for his remarks and an extra fine of P5,000 for a flagrant infraction on Japeth Aguilar.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said Santos was apologetic in their meeting yesterday.

“Emotion got the better of him,” said Marcial.

The Gin Kings, however, clearly performed better in stopping the Beermen in Game Three.

Even then, Ginebra coach Tim Cone feels they remain the underdogs.

“We won a game, but they still have a decided edge in the series. We also know that what we did in Game Three won’t be enough to win Game Four,” said Cone. “We’ll have to continue to lift the level of our game if we hope to even the series.”

He mentioned their big game in Game Two that wasn’t enough to net them a “W.”

“We just have to play an A++ game to have a chance to beat them. And they come out and seem like they’re playing their B++, and they’re able to steal or beat us. It’s just amazing how good they are,” said Cone.

“We have to play perfect to beat them,” he added.

There’s still no certainty as to when they would finally welcome back 7-foot-1 center Greg Slaughter.

“His status has not changed. He’s day to day and will be a game time decision for Game Four,” said Cone.

Chris Ross sat out the second half of Game Three due to a strained thigh, but he’s expected to be back in Game Four.