Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
ANTIPOLO — Height is might, but for June Mar Fajardo, heft gave him problems in San Miguel’s duel against Meralco on Wednesday.
With the four-time PBA Most Valuable Player having his way down low, Bolts coach Norman Black dug deep and pulled Ken Bono out of his bag of tricks as the 33-year-old center made life hard for the Beermen slotman in the second half.
“He was heavy and was big,” Fajardo said of the former Adamson star as he was seemingly frustrated majority of the last two quarters.
Showing his pedigree, however, the Cebuano giant eventually solved the puzzle as he linked up with Chris Ross in pick-and-roll plays in the fourth period on his way to 26 points and nine rebounds in San Miguel’s 103-97 victory Ynares Center here.
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Fajardo said that those adjustments are further proof that no team this conference, not even a Meralco crew, which was at the cellar the past two all-Filipino conferences, is a pushover as the Beermen saw what was once a 22-point lead trimmed down to as low as one in the third frame that paved way for the frantic finish.
“They are a good team. You can’t just get a big lead against them because they are also an organized team,” he said in Filipino.
Fajardo was also satisfied with how San Miguel played in the first half, noting that it gave the public a glimpse of how strong his team could be when everything is clicking.
“When we’re executing our plays, swinging the ball and get it to the other corner, that’s when we’re playing at our best,” he said. “We know our game and we know each other’s game because we’ve been together for so long. We just need to execute our plays, and it also helps if our players step up, like tonight, Von (Pessumal) played well.”
San Miguel is so far living up to everyone’s expectations as it heads into to the new year unbeaten at 2-0.
And Fajardo hopes that the Beermen will sustain their run as they seek to win an unprecedented fourth straight Philippine Cup crown.
“This is good for us because we ended the year with a win. Hopefully, we sustain this. We’ll enjoy the New Year, but we have to manage our sleep because we still have upcoming games,” he said.