Tag: Fajardo

June Mar Fajardo savors tied series; Best Player a ‘bonus’

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June Mar Fajardo takes home the PBA Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference Award for San Miguel Beermen ahead of Finals Game 4–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Taking home the Best Player of the Conference Award was a sweet accolade to get but tying the PBA Philippine Cup Finals series at 2-2 is even sweeter, at least according to June Mar Fajardo.

After winning the BPC award for a historic 10th time on Wednesday, Fajardo capped off his night by helping San Miguel Beer defeat Meralco, 111-101, in the highest-scoring game of the series thus far.

But while having new hardware in the closet is a clear motivator, Fajardo said he was more motivated by the fact that his Beermen was down in the series before Gamre 4.

READ: PBA: June Mar Fajardo wins 10th Best Player of Conference award

“I was motivated because we were down by one game in this series. The BPC [award] is just a bonus,” said Fajardo in Filipino. “I’m happy to get the BPC but [I give] credits to my teammates because I wouldn’t get that if it wasn’t for them.”

Fajardo proved why he was the All-Filipino Conference’s top player with another sensational double-double with 28 points and 13 rebounds on a blistering 64 percent field goal shooting clip.

The seven-time league MVP was also instrumental in stopping the Meralco bigs, helping the Beermen force Cliff Hodge and Brandon Bates to foul out of the game in the fourth quarter quelling any hopes of a comeback rally.

HIGHLIGHTS: PBA Finals Game 4 San Miguel vs Meralco

Of course, it wasn’t an easy job for Fajardo–or the Beermen as a whole, for that matter–making the series a virtual best-of-three.

“The defense on me was good and that also goes for our whole team. We had limited shots but now, like coach (Jorge Gallent) told us, we passed the ball well and that’s the reason why we won.”

The PBA Finals reach a fever pitch in Game 5 at the same venue on Friday at 7:30 pm.

PBA: June Mar Fajardo wins 10th Best Player of Conference award

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San Miguel Beermen’s June Mar Fajardo during the PBA Philippine Cup Finals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

SCHEDULE: PBA Finals San Miguel vs Meralco

MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel’s June Mar Fajardo won his 10th Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award for the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup.

Fajardo was awarded the BPC plum before Game 4 of the Finals between the Beermen and the Bolts at Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.

Prior to Game 4, the seven-time MVP averaged 17.4 points, 14.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 blocks per game.

Fajardo has been playing efficiently for the Beermen this conference, shooting 52.8 percent from the field in the All-Filipino derby.

READ: PBA Finals: Shackled June Mar Fajardo key to Meralco success

Fajardo edged out BPC finalists Stephen Holt of Terrafirma and Robert Bolick of NLEX. He also leapfrogged fellow San Miguel star CJ Perez and Ginebra big man Christian Standhardinger.

Bolick, responsible for the Road Warriors’ quarterfinal stint, led the league in scoring at the end of the elimination round with 28.3 points a night while Holt is still leading the Rookie of the Year talks with 21.08 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.4 steals per outing.

With 10 BPCs in his grasp, Fajardo remained the player with the most citations of the award.

Banged-up Bates doesn’t mind putting body on Fajardo

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Meralco rookie Brandon Bates kept it simple when asked about the tall task of defending San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo in the PBA Philippine Cup championship series.

“Starstruck … and sore!” he said with a hearty laugh while chatting with the Inquirer. “I remember waking up the other morning and every single part of my body was sore.”

Turning serious, the Filipino-Australian big man pointed out that he wasn’t expecting anything less from the man who has helped deliver San Miguel’s last 10 crowns while winning seven MVP trophies.

“He’s the best player in this league, and possibly—arguably—the best in Philippine (basketball’s) history,” Bates went on. “So yeah, starstruck and sore.”

Bates hasn’t been too shabby in this best-of-seven duel where he has helped his crew take a 2-1 lead. The former La Salle center has been integral in putting the clamps on the Beermen cornerstone.

Alongside Raymond Almazan, Norbert Torres and Kyle Pascual, Bates has made things difficult for Fajardo, especially in Game 3, as the San Miguel star was held to only five field goal attempts and forced to a team-worst seven turnovers.

There’s no denying that among the questions on Wednesday’s Game 4 set at 7:30 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum will be about sustaining that effort. And Bates is optimistic, as energy, after all, has been synonymous with Meralco’s play.

“The coaching staff has prepared us really well. Our training sessions weren’t easy. They haven’t been easy coming into this [series]. I think we’re very well-prepared especially if this goes into seven games,” he said.

“It’s what we want because we’re truly prepared for this sort of stuff.”

Poster boy

Cliff Hodge, easily Meralco’s poster boy for vigor, is hardly fazed with the possibility of the Bolts’ energy sputtering as the series plods along.

“Ever since the ‘PBA On Tour,’ when the coaching staff came back and asked us what our goals are, we said we want to win a championship. They said, ‘all right, well if you guys want to win a championship, then you all got to be conditioned to win a championship,’” Hodge said as the Bolts look to build a huge 3-1 cushion.

“So we’ve been putting in the work since then. And I’m not tired—I can do this any day of the week. All the guys on the team are in condition and we’re in shape. So we want to keep this pace up. If everything works out and we win a championship, then that’s great. If not, we’ll keep working until we win one,” he added.

Such a projection remains to be seen, and it will be interesting to see if it even holds as they try to fend off the Beermen from equalizing.

Fajardo is shaping up to be at the front and center of that San Miguel counterattack in what is looming as his coronation as the Best Player of the Conference (BPC). Barring any big changes, the Cebuano hotshot will be taking home his 10th BPC, the most by anyone in league history.

PBA Finals: Shackled June Mar Fajardo key to Meralco success

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June Mar Fajardo–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

June Mar Fajardo found himself in a bind on Sunday night, his on-court struggles among the things that doomed San Miguel in Game 3 of the PBA Philippine Cup’s championship series.

“That’s just the way it is,” he told reporters in Filipino on the heels of a 93-89 loss to the Meralco Bolts at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “Credit to them, they’ve played great throughout this series.”

Easily the heart and soul of the vaunted club, Fajardo was shackled to just 12 points and was limited to his season-low five field-goal attempts.

The reigning MVP, who is on pace to win his 10th Best Player of the Conference award, also accounted for seven of the team’s 15 turnovers as the Beermen slid to a 2-1 hole.

“Their defense is great. They’ve got plenty of bigs, and they are quick with their rotations so it’s been tiring [for me],” Fajardo said of the opposition, who has the likes of Raymond Almazan, rookie Brandon Bates, Norbert Torres and even Kyle Pascual taking turns in defending the most dominant player in the league.

CJ Perez, the other steady presence for San Miguel in this All-Filipino derby, wasn’t too keen on pinning it all on his star teammate’s woes.

“It’s just the free throws,” he said in a separate chat. “Those were the most crucial. We missed seven in the last [minutes], and that was the story.”

Five of those muffed freebies, following a 75-all deadlock in the payoff frame, were from Perez. And those were just as critical in San Miguel’s defeat, the spitfire guard insists.

A closer examination of the Game 3 stats sheet, however, showed that San Miguel lost in both the rebounds and assists race. The Beermen only had 50 boards against the Bolts’ 57, and 15 assists versus Meralco’s 22.

‘Improve our energy’

Fajardo, Perez, and co. were also behind the challengers in points in the paint (36-32), second-chance points (22-11), and error conversions (20-13).

“We really need to improve our energy to beat Meralco. We’re losing in rebounds—offensive rebounds. And their hustle [plays],” said Perez.

The crafty guard, however, is confident that those issues can be addressed in the two-day lull heading into Wednesday’s Game 4 at the same venue.“It’s going to be crucial as we don’t want to be crushed (with a big deficit),” he said of the return match.

“The two days will be big for our rest. And of course, June Mar since he’s really having a hard time. He needs rest. And of course, we need to adjust whatever that is we need to adjust,” Perez added.

If anything, Perez and Fajardo can take comfort in the fact that San Miguel has yet to lose back-to-back games this tournament. The Beermen suffered that only once this season when they stumbled against NorthPort and then Magnolia in the previous Commissioner’s Cup which they eventually ruled.

It will be truly interesting to see how the decorated San Miguel side recoups against a Meralco crew hell-bent on making the most out of their first-ever Philippine Cup finals. INQ