June Mar Fajardo of the San Miguel Beermen appears headed for a record-extending 13th Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award. This comes after the nine-time MVP accumulated the most statistical points through the quarterfinals of the PBA Philippine Cup after setting career bests in rebounds and assists.
Fajardo, who played in all of San Miguel’s 12 games in the conference, has so far compiled an average of 45.4 statistical points (SPs), anchored on per-game averages of 17.4 points, 15.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.1 blocks. The Kraken’s rebounding and assist numbers put him on pace to record career highs in both statistical categories and underscore his scary dominance in this tournament.
A 13th BPC plum for the 36-year-old Cebuano would be his second straight, as he won the same award in the last PBA Philippine Cup. It would also be The Kraken’s fourth in the past five conferences, as he was also named BPC in the Philippine Cup of Season 48 and in the Governors’ Cup of Season 49.
June Mar Fajardo Is in a Class by Himself
As things stand, the BPC plum is June Mar Fajardo’s to lose, as he is far ahead of the competition. Running second behind The Kraken is The Beast, Calvin Abueva, who finished with an average of 41.2 SPs built on a league-best 23.6 points per game, on top of 11.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.2 blocks. Unfortunately for the Titan Ultra Giant Riser, he will not be able to add to his totals anymore, as his team did not make the playoffs.
In joint third behind June Mar Fajardo and Calvin Abueva are Converge FiberXers teammates Juan Gomez de Liaño and Justine Baltazar, with identical 37.2 SPs. Gomez de Liaño normed 19.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 1.2 steals, while Baltazar averaged 14.9 points, 14.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.9 steal, and 0.9 block. Zavier Lucero (17.1 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.1 SPG, and 2.0 BPG) and Joshua Munzon (21.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 4.9 APG, 1.8 SPG, and 0.6 BPG) are fourth and fifth, respectively, with 33.8 and 33.6 SPs.
Who Can Catch The Kraken?
JGDL, Baltazar, Lucero, and Munzon are in the same boat as Abueva: They are June Mar Fajardo’s closest pursuers, but they will not be able to catch him anymore, as their teams are already out of contention. That leaves San Miguel’s CJay Perez (32.92 SPs), TNT Tropang 5G sniper Calvin Oftana (32.91 SPs), and Meralco Bolt CJ Cansino (31.2 SPs) as next in line in terms of potentially getting close to Fajardo’s SPs.
But if recent form is any indication, no one is probably catching June Mar Fajardo at this point. The Kraken has been a walking double-double this conference—and with the added dimension of passing, to boot. It will take a massive drop-off in performance from Fajardo and a string of stat-sheet-stuffing games from someone else in the top 12 in SPs for anyone just to get close to the nine-time MVP in the SP race.
Winning the SP race, of course, is half the battle to winning the BPC plum, as average SP accounts for 45% of the BPC criteria, with 30% for media votes and 25% for player votes.
So, at this point, June Mar Fajardo really seems to be on his way to a record-extending 13th Best Player of the Conference plum.
