San Miguel Beer duo worries Standhardinger, Ginebra in PBA semis
San Miguel Beermen’s June Mar Fajardo and Bennie Boatwright in the PBA quarterfinals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines–Christian Standhardinger acknowledges the different dynamics Barangay Ginebra will face in its latest playoff encounter with San Miguel Beer, this time in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals.
“It doubles the winning strategy for them,” Standhardinger said when asked how the Gin Kings will approach the challenge of facing the Beermen frontline duo of Bennie Boatwright and June Mar Fajardo in the best-of-five series that starts on Wednesday.
Ginebra and San Miguel will meet in the semifinals for the second straight conference. The Gin Kings swept the Fajardo-less Beermen in last season’s Governors’ Cup.
But not only is Fajardo going to be a burden to handle for Ginebra, the Gin Kings are also going to spend some time trying to neutralize Boatwright, who aside from having an inside presence can also play off the seven-time PBA Most Valuable Player with his knack of hitting the three-point shot.
Boatwright is averaging 40.5 points in four games since replacing Ivan Aska, all resulting in victories, thanks largely to hitting 23 three-pointers out of 54 attempts for a 43-percent clip.
Coach Tim Cone, always known for making comparisons, described Boatwright’s play as similar to a former San Miguel great.
“Bennie Boatwright is like Arwind Santos times two … or times five, or maybe times 10,” Cone said. “I mean, that’s what made June Mar so great during those times is having somebody like Arwind Santos sitting on top, keeping defenses honest. Bennie does that, maybe even better than Arwind.
“It’s a dilemma all the teams will face and try to figure out and we will try to figure out. If we can’t, then we will not win the series,” he added.
Of course, there’s still the other problem which is Fajardo, whose production will hinge on how he can outmaneuver his ex-teammate Standhardinger, Japeth Aguilar and import Tony Bishop.
Fractured left hand
Fajardo has played the last two games after being sidelined by a fractured left hand, and is mostly playing the pedestrian role given being on the floor with Boatwright and the Beermen backcourt also stepping up.
Jericho Cruz, Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter, CJ Perez and Terrence Romeo are all complementing their bigs and they will look to continue doing that in the semis opposite Ginebra counterparts Scottie Thompson, Maverick Ahanmisi and Stanley Pringle.
“It’s gonna be very, very hard, I’m not gonna lie to you,” Standhardinger said. “They don’t have weakness in terms of personnel and I think they match up with us the best. So yeah, we’re gonna try to play and figure it out.”
The other PBA semifinals matchup pits Magnolia against Phoenix.
Either team may pose a threat to the Hotshots’ bid to build on their impressive eliminations campaign and move closer on winning their first title since the PBA 2018 Governors’ Cup.
