Held to conference low, Fajardo happy to see teammates hit their mark

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

June Mar Fajardo isn’t losing sleep after being limited to a conference-low nine points in San Miguel’s 102-90 Game 1 win over Ginebra on Friday.

“It’s no problem with me,” he said in Filipino after the Beermen gained a 1-0 series lead in the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup. “The important thing is we win. We are not competing on who scores the most.”

Fajardo was even the first to commend teammates like Arwind Santos, who led San Miguel with 23 points and eight rebounds, and Von Pessumal, who got a career-high 18 markers, for stepping up and taking the scoring cudgels for the defending three-time all-Filipino conference champions.

“Credit goes to my teammates because they played well. Everyone stepped up like Arwind and Von. Both of them played really well,” he said.

Without Greg Slaughter to match Fajardo down low, Ginebra took extra measures and threw bodies like Prince Caperal and Raymond Aguilar to the reigning four-time PBA MVP in an attempt to stymie the Cebuano giant.

“They played really good defense on me. When I get the ball, they quickly put a double-team on me,” said Fajardo, expecting to continue getting a tough draw in the games to come.

The difference with Fajardo and other big men, though, is that he is willing to share the rock and let his other teammates shine.

“I know I have to immediately find my open teammates,” said Fajardo, who collected seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocks in the win.

Ginebra’s defense freed up a lot of shooters for San Miguel as it cashed in on its open looks and went 16-of-34 from downtown.

Though it’s a known fact that Fajardo, too, can hit it up from distance, he said that he’s not tempted in anyway to take his game to the outside.

“No,” he said when asked if he also feels the urge to shoot a three. “That’s not my strength and I’m willing to give that role to our shooters.”

After drawing first blood in the best-of-7 series, Fajardo admits that he expects another tough outing come Sunday for Game 2, still at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“I anticipate that they’ll defend me harder, so we have to make our adjustments also. We’ll go back to practice and focus on our gameplan again,” he said.