Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Mon Fernandez holds the PBA record for the most number of MVP awards, but he knows it’s only a matter of time before another center takes his place.
Fernandez, who has four MVPs along with Alvin Patrimonio, feels San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo will eventually take his place in the record books.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he would get eight MVPs and break several records in the PBA,” Fernandez told reporters during the Philippine Sportswriters’ Association Forum Tuesday at Golden Phoenix Hotel in Pasay City.
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Fajardo, who has been the most dominant player in the PBA for the last three years with his sheer size and uncanny skill set for a big man, has already won three MVP plums in his first four seasons in the league.
And a fourth one is highly likely after Fajardo bagged his fifth Best Player of the Conference award in the 2017 Philippine Cup.
But despite all of Fajardo’s accolades, Fernandez believes the Cebuano giant still has a lot to learn.
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“He still has to develop in other areas and develop other moves to be very more effective,” said Fernandez, 63, who now serves as commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission.
Fernandez, regarded as one of the greatest Filipino cagers of all time after winning several medals in the international scene and 19 PBA titles, also said Fajardo has yet to unveil his full arsenal.
“He can run and he still has a secret weapon which he hasn’t used yet. He’s good with hook shots using either his left or right hand,” Fernandez revealed. “When he was still in Cebu, maybe he won’t use it yet because he’s up against small players and he can take on them easily but I told him back then that, ‘you’re gonna need it in the PBA and in international competition.”
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“Up to now, he hasn’t made use of it but maybe in due time when he starts having a hard time scoring 20 to 25 points a game he’ll start using it and so that he still has something to show later on in his career.”
Fernandez is the PBA’s all-time leader in points, rebounds and blocks after playing 24 seasons.