Tight rookie race as Newsome overtakes Rosario in SPs
Meralco’s Chris Newsome. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Meralco may just have found a diamond in the rough in Chris Newsome.
Newsome, selected fourth in the 2015 PBA Draft, is likely to take home the Rookie of the Year before Meralco finishes its series against Ginebra in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
The high-leaping Bolts forward has overtaken second overall pick Troy Rosario in the race for the top rookie plum with 23.6 statistical points, 0.6 more than the TNT big man.
READ: WATCH: Newsome dunks over Ammons, de Ocampo
Votes from the media, PBA officials, other players, and TV broadcaster will also be tallied and could either favor Rosario or solidify Newsome’s case.
The winners will be announced before Game 4 of the best-of-seven PBA Finals between the Kings and the Bolts, which starts Friday.
In the race for the MVP, June Mar Fajardo is still on pole position with Jayson Castro a distant second.
READ: Cone says first-timer Meralco the experienced side, not Ginebra
Fajardo, the reigning two-time MVP and the Best Player of the Conference for the Philippine Cup, finished the season with San Miguel with 38.8 SPs while Castro, whose TNT also bowed out in the semis, has 33.6 SPs.
Castro, however, could see himself hoisting the BPC trophy for the Governors’ Cup after finishing the conference with 38.3 SPs but Fajardo is no far behind with 37.8.
The veteran guard finished the 11-game eliminations averaging 21.45 points per game and 7.91 assists per game, his two highest statistical categories, while Fajardo posted 20.55 ppg and 11.64 rebounds per game.
READ: Fajardo accepts painful loss: ‘We need to regroup, bounce back‘
It was in the playoffs, though, that Castro upped his numbers finishing with 26.6 ppg and 6.4 apg while Fajardo’s production drastically took a dive in the latter stages as he averaged 15.83 ppg and 6.67 rpg.
Eugene Phelps, meanwhile, is a virtual lock for the Best Import award.
Phoenix’s high scoring forward had 60.6 average statistical points across 10 games for the Fuel Masters.
Phelps, who arrived at Phoenix as a replacement, posted 36.6 points, 19.5 rebounds, and 3.7 assists across 10 games.
His closest competition is Meralco’s Allen Durham who has 54.5 average statistical points after posting averages of 29.4 points, 15.2 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in 17 games.
