San Miguel Beer center June Mar Fajardo goes up for a shot against Barangay Ginebra. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
June Mar Fajardo has extended his PBA reign into the new year as he is on his way to winning another Best Player of the Conference award.
But the three-time MVP said his focus is solely on winning games for San Miguel Beer, which is currently on top of the standings midway through the 2017 Philippine Cup.
“Ang layo pa, at ‘di ko pa iniisip yan (It’s still too far away and I don’t think about it much),” Fajardo told INQUIRER.net Monday. “Ang iniisip namin ang manalo ng games kasi malalakas na rin kalaban (Our focus is winning and our opponents have become stronger now).”
“Iyong BPC ‘di ko masyadong pinapansin (I really don’t think about the BPC that much).”
Fajardo is averaging 44.2 SPs, 20.2 points 17.2 rebounds that are both career-highs to go along 1.5 blocks.
The 27-year-old Fajardo is just one BPC plum shy of matching his mentor Danny Ildefonso for the most number of awards with five.
Fajardo’s teammates are also in the hunt for the Philippine Cup BPC award with point guard Alex Cabagnot in third and 2013 MVP Arwind Santos in sixth and the award’s frontrunner doesn’t mind sharing the limelight.
“Okay naman kasi balanced nga scoring namin ngayon and suportahan namin lagi ang maganda nilalaro (This is good because we have this balanced scoring in the team, and we’ll support anyone who’s having a good game),” said Fajardo.
He also acknowledged Cabagnot’s efforts in their 101-86 win over Meralco on Wednesday.
Cabagnot had a team-high 21 points before leaving the game early after suffering an injury early in the third quarter.
“Makaka treinta ata siya kung di siya na injure eh, (He could’ve scored 30 if he didn’t get injured),” said Fajardo.