MANILA, Philippines – A confident Arwind Santos thinks he can reach another PBA milestone of 900 blocks after becoming only the eighth player in league history to deny 800 shots.

The former MVP achieved the feat after recording 1 block to go with 11 points and 9 rebounds in San Miguel’s 113-107 win over NorthPort in the 2019 Philippine Cup on Sunday, March 10. 

In the process, he joined an elite club with legends Mon Fernandez, Abet Guidaben, Philip Cezar, Benjie Paras, Jerry Codiñera, Marlou Aquino and Manny Victorino.

“Tingin ko kaya pa naman siguro kahit mga 900 kung maglalaro pa ako ng mga 3 years,” the 37-year-old veteran told the reporters. 

(I think I can reach 900 blocks if I play for 3 more years.) 

Averaging 1.6 blocks this conference, Santos could even leapfrog Victorino – who tallied 817 blocks throughout his 18-year PBA career – for 7th place in the all-time list in the near future.

Next in line are Guidaben (922), Aquino (1,131), Codiñera (1,221), Paras (1,333), Cezar (1,370) and all-time block king Fernandez (1,853).

But swatting shots is not just Santos’ priority. 

“Siyempre kapag nakaka-block ka, kailangan nananalo, hindi ‘yung marami ka ngang blocks pero natatalo. Dapat balanced, maganda ang blocks tapos nananalo kami,” he said. 

(When you block a shot, you should also win. It’s not like you record a lot of blocks but still lose the game. It should be balanced. You get your blocks and you get the win.) 

In fact, Santos’ ultimate dream is seeing San Miguel – the reigning four-time titlist in the All-Filipino conference – stretch its championship streak. 

“‘Yung champion talaga ng All-Filipino, ‘yun talaga ‘yung gusto namin ma-straight hangga’t maaari. ‘Yun ang pinaka-goal ko, maka-five or maka-six.”

(What we want is to continue winning the All-Filipino championship as long as possible. That’s really my goal, to win 5 or 6 straight titles.) – Rappler.com