A FIRST Best Player of the Conference award for NorthPort star forward Arvin Tolentino?
That looms even as reigning eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer still kept the lead in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup BPC race.
The 6-foot-10 Fajardo remained No. 1 by the end of the eliminations with 42.0 statistical points based on the latest figures released by the pro league last Wednesday.
But the Beermen failed to advance to the playoffs, with the 10-time BPC winner who leads the PBA in rebounding with 16.3 boards per game likely to be overtaken by Tolentino as the Batang Pier wound up as the top seed in the Last Eight.
Tolentino is a close second behind Fajardo with 39.9 SPs and averages all-around norms of 23.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game.
Tolentino’s bid for the coveted plum got a big boost when Fajardo (20.1 points and 3.5 assists) and erstwhile champion SMB bombed out of the quarterfinals for the first time in a decade.
Another player in the running but whose team had been ousted too, like the Beermen, is NLEX gunner Robert Bolick, who sits at No. 3 with 37.1 SPs. The prolific Road Warrior shows the way in both scoring and assists with averages of 23.5 and 7.8, respectively.
Also expected to be in contention for the race are TNT’s Calvin Oftana (32.7 SPs) and Converge rookie Jordan Heading (32.5 SPs).
Behind his averages of 19.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists, Oftana is at No. 4 followed by Heading (17.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 5.8 assists) at fifth place.
Fajardo’s case is akin to the fight for the best import award as Mike Watkins could lose his hold of the lead after the early exit of NLEX.
Watkins stayed at No. 1 with 52.7 SPs but running strong in second place is two-time awardee Rondae Hollis-Jefferson of the Tropang Giga at No. 2 with 51.8 SPs and Kadeem Jack of Northport with 51.6 SPs.
Watkins, 29, paces all reinforcements in rebounding with 20.8 caroms and block shots with 2.7 while averaging 26.7 markers.
But the Road Warriors fell to the Magnolia Hotshots 81-112 in a knockout duel for the eighth and last quarterfinals slot last Sunday.
The Hotshots’ Ricardo Ratliffe is running fourth with 50.1 SPS while four rungs lower of him is three-time winner Justine Brownlee of Ginebra with 45.2 SPs.
