The San Miguel Beermen and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel are now tied at 2-2 in their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals series, and a big reason for it is June Mar Fajardo playing MVP basketball once again.
Held to just 12 points on 8 attempts in San Miguel’s close Game 3 loss, Fajardo made sure he was not going to be contained in Game 4, establishing himself in the paint early and often to give the Beermen a looming presence down low. Naturally, his numbers were fit for an eight-time MVP: 29 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 assists on 12-for-15 shooting from the field.
For The Kraken, his monstrous double-double was simply a product of the Beermen playing San Miguel basketball.
“Nag-execute kami ng mga plays namin, nilaro namin ‘yung San Miguel basketball kaya nakuha namin ‘yung panalo,” Fajardo told reporters in the Game 4 postgame presser.
San Miguel Basketball Is All About June Mar Fajardo
San Miguel basketball, of course, means Fajardo getting the ball at the post and dictating the terms of engagement. In Game 4, he was aggressive practically the entire game, looking for his shot most of the time but kicking out to his teammates when Ginebra tried to swarm him inside. The result was five other Beermen—Ej Anosike, Cjay Perez, Marcio Lassiter, Don Trollano, and Terrence Romeo—scoring in double digits. A sixth—Jericho Cruz—ended up with 8.
But, ever the humble superstar, the eight-time MVP deflected credit to his fellow Beermen.
“Thankful ako sa mga teammates ko saka sa mga coaches kasi ‘yun ‘yung game plan namin, ‘yung adjustment namin,” he said. “Hinahanap ako ng mga teammates ko, pinapasahan ako sa ilalim, sa poste… Nag-step up talaga ‘yung buong team.”
Indeed, Fajardo’s teammates stepped up big time in Game 4. But it was the big guy—the eight-time MVP—who led the way.
Game 5 of this series is on Friday, Oct 18.
