Beermen off to a slow start anew

June Mar Fajardo. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

ANTIPOLO CITY—San Miguel finds itself in a tough spot to start the PBA Commissioner’s Cup after falling 0-2 on Saturday night.

Beermen center June Mar Fajardo, the league’s only five-time MVP, said getting back to their winning ways means drawing contributions from everyone.

The 6-foot-10 Fajardo said that even though the Beermen’s slow start in the Commissioner’s Cup mirrored that of their campaigns in the previous conferences, they can’t rely on history to get them out of this slump.

“We have to get back to winning form, we have a few days of practice so we really have to step up to get our first win,” said Fajardo in Filipino after the Beermen lost to TNT, 110-97, Saturday at Ynares Center here.

The winless start isn’t new to the Beermen as they’ve also experienced a similar fate in the recently-concluded Philippine Cup where they dropped three of their first five games.

San Miguel also had a dismal start in the 2018 Governors’ Cup falling 2-4 in its first six games and a 0-3 opening salvo in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup.

Despite those slow starts, the Beermen got the playoffs in each of those three conferences and even won the 2019 Philippine Cup and that triumph was their fifth straight title in the All-Filipino conference.

Fajardo, however, said those conferences are already history and they’re in a new one right now.

“It’s better for us to win immediately, those were the previous conferences, this is a different one so we have to get our rhythm back and bounce back harder,” said Fajardo, who had 13 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks against the KaTropa.

“We have to step up because there’s still a chance for us to get back.”