Photo by Sherwin Vardeleon/INQUIRER
Even after having his best game in a Gilas Pilipinas uniform, June Mar Fajardo still defrayed the credit to the entire team.
“I’m thankful to my teammates and to coach for the trust he gave me,” Fajardo said in Filipino after helping the Philippines hold off Chinese Taipei, 90-83, Monday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
READ: Gilas Pilipinas rallies, fends off Chinese Taipei
But there’s no denying that Fajardo deserved all the praise for his stellar effort for the Philippines, which went unbeaten through two games in the 2019 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers.
The Cebuano giant fired 17 points and collected eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocks in what was easily his best performance in a tournament of this magnitude.
Fajardo, however, knows that the win came with its own set of lessons as Gilas’ resolve was tested after the team had to crawl back from an early 14-point deficit.
“This game showed us that we need to follow our game plan. We relaxed in the first quarter, but it’s good that we’re able to recover because of our defense,” said Fajardo, whom national team coach Chot Reyes hailed as Gilas’ savior against a resilient Taipei side.
READ: Reyes says Fajardo ‘saved’ Gilas vs Taipei
Coming to his own in front of a capacity crowd, fans couldn’t help but fantasize how much Fajardo can still improve in the international stage.
But just like how he approaches any game, the four-time PBA MVP would rather stick to the system than hunt for his own stats.
“This good game gave me a bit of a pressure, but I know all I had to do is to trust the team, trust coach’s system, and trust each other,” he said.