June Mar Fajardo leads CJ Perez, Christian Standhardinger in battle for BPC plum
June Mar Fajardo emerged as the front-runner in the battle for the Best Player of the Conference of the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup.
The prized center of the San Miguel Beermen finished with a league-leading average of 38.8 statistical points (SPs) in the wide-open race for the award which, curiously, doesn’t include any players from finalists Brgy. Ginebra and Meralco since only the top 5 finishers will be considered as candidates.
The 30-year old Fajardo posted averages of 19.3 points, 14.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 blocks for the Beermen who saw their quest for a rare triple-crown slammed in the quarterfinal round for the second time in the last three years by the Justin Brownlee-led Gin Kings.
Columbian Dyip’s CJ Perez came in second with 37.2 SPs. The first-year player from Lyceum of the Philippines led the league in scoring and steals with impressive averages of 23.2 and 2.5, respectively. The top overall pick of the 2018 draft also had 8.1 boards and 3.5 assists per outing to cap off his remarkable rookie campaign.
NorthPort’s Christian Standhardinger landed in 3rd on the strength of 35.1 SPs. Fajardo’s former frontcourt partner was instrumental in the Batang Pier’s amazing run which saw the Pido Jarencio-mentored squad dispose of top-seeded NLEX in the quarters on the way to the team’s second semifinals appearance in franchise history.
The returning Kiefer Ravena (34.5 SPs) of the Road Warriors and TNT’s Jayson Castro (31.6 SPs) are the two other contenders for the award.
