AFTER bagging his seventh MVP award last season, San Miguel Beer star center June Mar Fajardo has emerged as the frontrunner for the PBA 48th season’s coveted award anew.
The hulking 6-foot-10 Fajardo is leading the race for the pro league’s biggest individual accolade after the Beermen’s title triumph in the last Commissioner’s Cup.
Fajardo, 34, amassed 40.9 average statistical points built around big numbers in points (16.2), rebounds (league-best 12.0) and blocks (season-high 2.3) and 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals to set the pace in the MVP derby at the halfway point of the season.
Ginebra’s Christian Standhardinger and CJ Perez, Fajardo’s newly minted Best Player of the Conference and finals MVP teammate at SMB, are out to give Fajardo a run for his money.
Standhardinger, who normed 16.5 markers, 9.9 boards and 5.0 assists, is second with 35.7 SPs. Perez, who posted 16.9-point, 6.0-rebound, 3.6-assist and 2.3-steal averages in his breakthrough conference, is a close third with 35.4 SPs.
NorthPort’s Arvin Tolentino, the league’s top local scorer with 22.4 points who also accounts for 5.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per tiff, sits at No. 4 with 35.1 SPs followed by TNT’s Calvin Oftana (21.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists per game) at fifth with 34.1.
Former MVP Scottie Thompson of the Kings (31 SPs), Meralco’s Chris Newsome (28.5), Jio Jalalon of Magnolia (28.4) and the Ginebra pair of Maverick Ahanmisi (27.60) and Jamie Malonzo (27.58) make up the sixth to 10th positions.
Just outside the top 10 are Jason Perkins of Phoenix (27.5), Terrafirma’s Javi Gomez de Liano (27.1), Mark Barroca of the Hotshots (26.8), Terrafirma’s Juami Tiongson (26.6) and the Bolts’ Cliff Hodge (24.8).
The Dyip’s top pick overall Stephen Holt leads the chase for Rookie of the Year with 24 SPs even as he ranks 20th in the MVP contest.
With averages of 12.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists, Holt grabbed the upper hand from NorthPort’s Cade Flores (22.4 SPs), Phoenix’s Ken Tuffin (20.1), fellow Dyip Kemark Carino (16.1), NorthPort’s Fran Yu (15.8) and Blackwater’s Christian David (14.3).
Rounding out the top 10 are TNT’s Henry Galinato Jr. (13.7), Phoenix’s Ricci Rivero (13.3), TNT’s Kim Aurin (13.0) and NorthPort’s Brent Paraiso (12.8).
