RHJ named best import
EVEN if he’s not playing in the finals, reigning eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer showed up in street clothes to receive the conference’s top player award last night—a testament to a legendary pro league career that never wanes.
Wearing a plain white t-shirt with the words “Teach Peace” printed on it and jogger pants, the 6-foot-10 Fajardo received the PBA Governors’ Cup Best Player of the Conference plum before Game 4 of the Big Dance pitting defending champion TNT against Ginebra.
Before a jampacked crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Fajardo emerged from the stands to raise his 11th BPC trophy overall while Tropang Giga prolific reinforcement Rondae Hollis-Jefferson shared the spotlight with his second straight best import award.
Fajardo, 34, emerged as the runaway winner of the season-opening tourney’s highest individual accolade, thanks to 989 total points built on 465 markers on statistics, 476 media votes, and 48 players’ votes.
Ginebra big man Japeth Aguilar finished a far second with 664 points on the strength of 335 stats, 262 votes from the press, and 77 nods from fellow players.
Former MVP Scottie Thompson of the Kings rounded up the top three in the BPC derby with 465 points via a 335-86-44 line.
The Beermen’s prized center showed the way in the best player race with 44.8 statistical points on impressive numbers of 21.0 points, a league-best 16.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.0 blocks in 21 games from the eliminations up to the semifinals.
While SMB fell to Ginebra 2-4 in their semis clash, Fajardo proved he was the most valuable local cager in the import-spiced tilt.
Hollis-Jefferson amassed 1,221 points made possible by 663 points from stats, 491 media votes, and 67 votes from players.
Resident Kings import Justin Brownlee ended second with 947 points (588-266-93) while Rain or Shine’s Aaron Fuller was third with 590 points.
“He is amazing. We looked at the video. I watch him on video and the things he does just amaze us, us as a team. He is, by far, the best import I’ve ever seen in terms of focusing on defense and hustle. We’ve had a lot of prolific imports, guys scoring 100 points, guys averaging big numbers,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said. “But to have a guy like this that comes in and just plays so hard on the defensive end and in the hustle side of the game, I don’t think we’ve had too many imports like that.
“Maybe Marqus Blakely or Rosell Ellis but not to that level. That’s why he (Hollis-Jefferson) is an NBA guy. I don’t know why he is not in the NBA. He should be in the NBA. He is special.”
