Fajardo shows way in BPC derby

SAN Miguel Beer titan June Mar Fajardo is making a strong case for a record-extending 13th Best Player of the Conference plum.

At the end of the quarterfinals, Fajardo held pole position in the derby for the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup’s individual award with 45.4 average statistical points built on solid averages of 17.4 points, a league-high 15.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.1 blocks.

Titan’s Calvon Abueva, the conference’s premier scorer with 23.6 markers per game, ran second with 41.2 SPs followed by Converge’s rookie sensation Juan Gomez de Liano and fellow FiberXer Justine Baltazar with identical 37.2.

Magnolia’s Zav Lucero, the leading player in blocks with 2,0 per outing, sat at fifth with 33.8, slightly ahead of Titan’s Joshua Munzon (33.6).

SMB’s CJ Perez (32.92), TNT’s Calvin Oftana (32.91), Converge’s Justin Arana (32.6) and Meralco’s CJ Cansino (31.2) occupied seventh to 10th spots.

Knocking at the Top 10 were Ginebra’s RJ Abarrientos (31.1), SMB’s Don Trollano (30;5), Ginebra’s Stephen Holt (30.4) and Scottie Thompson (30.2) and Meralco’s Chris Newsome (28.0).

Fajardo’s bid for BPC No.13 is boosted by the fact that his closest pursuers, led by Abueva and De Liano, are not in action anymore with their respective teams out of the semifinal picture.

Aside from the Kraken, who delivered a monster 26-point, 23-rebound performance in helping the top-seeded Beermen blit past No. 8 NLEX in the quarterfinals, 101-94, only Perez, Oftana, Cansino, Abarrientos, Trollano, Holt, Thompson and Newsome are still playing in the semis.

De Liano, the first player in PBA history to record a triple-double in his debut game, was the top-performing rookie at third in the race with averages of 19.0 markers, 7.2 boards, 6.7 dimes and 1.2 steals.

He was far ahead of Blackwater’s Dalph Panopio (21.9 average SPs), who sat at 43rd with Terrafirma’s JM Bravo (19.1) at 57th, Ginebra’s Sonny Estil (15.9) at 79th and Magnolia’s Chris Koon (14.0) at 96th.