Santillan fills big-man void for Rain or Shine, gains weekly PBA player citation

MANILA, Philippines — Santi Santillan’s presence holds greater importance now for Rain or Shine with key big men forced to sit on the sidelines in the early goings of the PBA Philippine Cup.

And last week, Santilan made sure he would step up when needed to carry the Elasto Painters past the defending champions Meralco Bolts, 128-116.

Santillan’s 27 points, most of which came in the first half, helped Rain or Shine improve to 2-1 in the all-Filipino tournament while also getting the nod as the PBA Press Corps-Pilipinas Live Player of the Week.

“We practically had zero bigs and we have to play Santi as a big,” coach Yeng Guiao said of Santillan, who's more suitable playing the power forward position. “But we have to rely on our speed and quickness to counter the absence of our big men.”

The fourth-year product of La Salle got the weekly honors given by scribers regularly covering the PBA beat over Magnolia’s Zavier Lucero and Mark Barroca, Converge’s twin tower duo of Justin Arana and rookie Justine Baltazar and NLEX rookie JB Bahio.

Rain or Shine has been dealing with the absence of Belga, who hasn’t seen action this conference after dealing with vertigo, even as Datu is nursing a calf problem.

Also out against the Bolts was Tiongson, a late scratch after complaining of back spasms.

But Santillan rose to occasion with his offense, pumping in 19 in the first two quarters before others like Adrian Nocum and even 40-year-old veteran Gabe Norwood stepped up to widen Rain or Shine’s gap.

The 29-year-old is the fourth Rain or Shine player to win the award, the most by any team this season.