To no one’s surprise, June Mar Fajardo is head and shoulders above everyone in the race for the Best Player of the Conference in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup.
In probably his most prolific conference, the five-time Most Valuable Player has dominated the tournament and is expected to be the heavy favorite to win the BPC plum for the sixth straight year.
In fact, it is considered as a one-man race.
The reigning MVP is comfortably ahead in terms of statistics (SPs) through the finals. He owns a 41.4 statistical points per game as he once again led the “five-peat-seeking” Beermen in the finals for the sixth straight season.
Others in the running for the award are NorthPort’s Sean Anthony (37.1 SPs) and Stanley Pringle (34.8), RR Pogoy of TNT KaTropa (33.6) and Mo Tautuua of the Batang Pier (33.1)
However, Fajardo seems to be the clear-cut favorite, averaging a double-double with 20.6 points, 13.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 rebounds.
Furthermore, the behemoth from Cebu is the only BPC candidate playing in the finals, further boosting his bid for the unprecedented league record.
The BPC award will be handed out this Wednesday prior to the start of Game 4 of the best-of-seven championship showdown between Magnolia and San Miguel Beer.
The Hotshots entered the best-of-seven Philippine Cup championship as the underdogs, but after three games in the series, they have found themselves leading two games to one, following an impressive 86-82 Game 3 win over the four-time championSunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Defense did the trick for the Hotshots, who frustrated the Beermen all night as they held their foes to a horrible 32% shooting clip and only 23% (10/43) from three-point territory.
Magnolia banked on its defense in the second quarter, where they limited the Beermen to only 12 points.
BPC leader Fajardo was also shackled as he only had four points on four attempts from the field.