Philippines coach Chot Reyes. Sherwin Vardeleon/INQUIRER
National team coach Chot Reyes has no doubt who the hero was for Gilas Pilipinas in its 90-83 victory over Chinese Taipei on Monday.
“I thought June Mar saved us,” Reyes said just moments after the Philippines remained unscathed in Group B of the 2019 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers.
READ: Gilas Pilipinas rallies, fends off Chinese Taipei
The Cebuano giant came off the bench and provided the much-needed boost for the home team after it fell to a 17-4 hole to start the game.
The reigning four-time PBA MVP unleashed a Gilas career-best 17 points, to go along with eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.
Fajardo’s stellar showing was indeed a welcome sight for the Philippines, which had to endure an off-night from its naturalized center Andray Blatche.
“We got off to that terrible start but you know, it’s a big luxury for us to know that we’ve got a guy like June Mar coming off the bench,” Reyes said.
“I told him that he was coming off the bench and he was perfectly fine with it. And today, he showed it. Even in Japan, I thought he had a great performance but today, he was fantastic,” he said.
With the San Miguel big man’s game clicking, Gilas Pilipinas was rewarded with the luxury of keeping the Chinese Taipei defense guessing as Reyes fielded in a formidable twin tower combo of Fajardo and Blatche.
“They had to pick their poison. They keyed their defense on Blatche, took away his driving lanes and doubled him at every opportunity, but they couldn’t double team both Blatche and June Mar. That allowed June Mar to operate by himself and that got him a lot of opportunities,” said the seasoned mentor.
With Fajardo and Blatche’s partnership showing some promise, that may very well be the morale boost Gilas needs when it returns to action in the second window of the qualifiers late February against reigning Asian champion Australia.