June Mar Fajardo vs Greg Slaughter. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
In what could possibly be the closest statistical race in years, June Mar Fajardo and Greg Slaughter are neck-and-neck for this PBA season’s Most Valuable Player award.
Fajardo, the reigning two-time MVP, remains to be the pacesetter with his 27.52 average statistical points (SPs) through the end of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals, but only by a mere 0.01 SP.
Fellow Cebuano and rival center Slaughter sits closely at second with 27.51.
Hardworking NLEX forward Sean Anthony is at third with 23.1 SPs, followed by GlobalPort super scorer Terrence Romeo at fourth (22.8 SPs), and Alaska energy guy Calvin Abueva at fifth (22.4 SPs).
Rounding out the top 10 are TNT’s Jayson Castro (22.1 SPs), NLEX’s Asi Taulava (21.8 SPs), GlobalPort’s Stanley Pringle (21.7 SPs), Phoenix’s Willy Wilson (20.9 SPs), and San Miguel’s Arwind Santos (20.5 SPs).
Troy Rosario also owns a slim lead in the Rookie of the Year race with only a 0.58 SP lead over his closest rival.
The second overall pick stayed at the top with 16.58 SPs, but Meralco’s Chris Newsome has gained ground and garnered 16.0 SPs.
Blackwater’s Art dela Cruz is at distant third with 14.77 SPs, followed by Rain or Shine’s Maverick Ahanmisi (14.76 SPs), and TNT’s top pick Moala Tautuaa (13.76 SPs).
Statistics from the Philippine Cup account for 40-percent of the tabulation, with the two import-laden conferences owing 30-percent each for the average SPs at the end of the season.
Also, stats are equivalent to 40-percent for the MVP voting, with the media (30-percent), players (25-percent), and the PBA Commissioner’s Office (5-percent) all voting for the plum.