MANILA, Philippines—Don’t count on June Mar Fajardo shooting more threes any time in the PBA.
Fajardo, who only has two made three-pointers in his career, shot his first three-point basket of the season in the first quarter of San Miguel’s 121-111 win over NLEX in the Philippine Cup Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
San Miguel’s joviant giant, however, said that he only took the outside shot since the shot clock was running out and the Beermen were up 28-4 after his conversion.
“It’s no big deal, and I think it’d be just a one-time thing,” said Fajardo in Filipino. “It was also in the dying seconds so that’s just a fluke.”
Fajardo, whose last three-point basket was in the 2016-17 season, always shoots his outside shots in San Miguel’s practices but he knows his advantage is inside the paint, and sometimes in the mid-range, so he stays to his strength in the PBA.
And although Yeng Guiao, NLEX head coach and also Fajardo’s mentor in the national team, allows his big men to spread the floor, San Miguel’s 6-foot-10 center would much rather give that job to his teammates like Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross.
“Maybe in international play I’ll shoot from outside but in the PBA that’s not my game,” said Fajardo who finished with 27 points and 13 rebounds. “I’ll leave the shooting to Marcio and Chris.”
“I think I’ll shoot a three in the dying seconds and it also depends if I’m free or not.”
The three-pointer, though, wasn’t the only thing Fajardo did out of the ordinary.
During the second half, with San Miguel holding a double-digit lead, Fajardo dribbled the ball between his legs and proceeded to shoot a fade-away jumper from the post.
Unfortunately for Fajardo, the shot didn’t go in.
Still, it was a moment of pure joy for Fajardo who got the moves from the Internet.
“I got it by watching too much YouTube,” said Fajardo. “Coach Leo [Austria] just shook his head when I looked at him.”
“It could’ve looked better if it went in, but it just missed. We’re also up by a big margin so I tried to do it but if the game’s close I won’t even think about doing it.”