MANILA, Philippines—June Mar Fajardo has been to enough finals that reaching another championship round in the PBA Philippine Cup feel nothing new to him.
San Miguel got back to the conference’s finals for the fifth straight time after taking down Phoenix 105-94 in Game 5 for the 4-1 series win, and this title round marks Fajardo’s eighth trip to the ultimate seven-game series.
Fajardo said that playing in this upcoming finals series doesn’t differ from the other ones he’s played in but he knows taking another championship won’t come easy especially with the Beermen gunning for a fifth straight Philippine Cup title.
“There really isn’t much difference from the other championship series, but as long as we’re in the finals there’s always a new challenge so I hope we get the title,” said Fajardo in Filipino Thursday at Cuneta Astrodome.
“I know that it’s not easy winning a title but we’ll do everything we can to get it.”
Fajardo, who posted 13 points and 16 rebounds in Game 5, is 6-1 in the finals with his only loss in a championship round happening in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup against Barangay Ginebra.
That loss, however, may be put to the wayside if San Miguel beats whomever the winner in the semifinals series between Magnolia and Rain or Shine.
The Beermen can become the only team in PBA history to win five straight titles in the PBA surpassing their own mark of four straight Philippine Cups and Alaska’s own run of a four-peat from 1994-1997 in the Governors’ Cup.
“We’ve let go of that previous loss in the finals, so now we’re focused on the next one,” said Fajardo. “We want to win but I know the other team that will get to the championship round also wants to win the title. We’re going to prepare for it, we shouldn’t be contented.”
Fajardo added that even though they’ve been to a finals series for five straight years now, he can’t say if San Miguel is used to being in the championship round.
“I really can’t say if we’re used to this but I can say we have the experience but that can’t be the basis that we’re ahead in the series,” said Fajardo. “We just have a little bit of experience.”