Agustin: Defense did it for Petron

AKTV/Paul Ryan Tan

The Petron Blaze Boosters now have a 2-1 lead over the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in their Philippine Cup semifinal series, and Ato Agustin would only credit one thing: defense.

“Yung concept ng offense namin nagri-rely sa defensive rotation namin,” Agustin told InterAKTV in an exclusive interview shortly after the Boosters won a 95-93 squeaker in Game Three.

Arwind Santos had his share of struggles in the series, averaging just 10.5 points in the first two games. But even though he bounced back with 25 points and 16 rebounds, Agustin said that Santos’ contributions on the offensive end were just gravy.

“Anything na makukuha namin kay Arwind sa opensa, bonus na lang yun,” said Agustin. “Alam naman natin, defensive player yan.”

The Boosters held the Tropang Texters just 35-percent shooting from the field (28-of-80) and outrebounded their opponents for the first time in the series.

On the offensive end, Denok Miranda supported Santos with 20 points on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc, while Cabagnot had a quiet game before his game-winning three-pointer.

Chris Lutz also struggled to score, but contributed six rebounds and seven assists. Agustin, however, said he expects the rookie to bounce back.

“Si Chris Lutz na magaling umopensa and others na hindi na masyadong nagamit, lahat sila may pakinabang sa amin. But I expect Chris to come back sa mga susunod na game.”

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