San Miguel Beermen’s June Mar Fajardo during a PBA Philippine Cup game against Converge FiberXers. –PBA IMAGES
June Mar Fajardo’s bid for a record-extending 12th Best Player of the Conference award could face stiff competition despite topping the statistical category at the end of the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations.
The San Miguel Beer star compiled 40.4 Statistical Points (SP) based on the tally released by the league on Thursday after posting averages of 17.5 points, 13.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists during the elimination phase that saw the Beermen secure top spot with an 8-3 record.
READ: PBA: June Mar Fajardo carries San Miguel on his back
But standing in his way are his teammate CJ Perez, NLEX’s Robert Bolick and Magnolia’s Zavier Lucero, who have all performed well for their respective teams in the initial stage of the all-Filipino tournament.
Perez, BPC winner in the 2023-24 Commissioner’s Cup, placed second with 38.5 SPs behind a league-leading 23.4 points with 4.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals.
Bolick is third with 37.6 SPs after playing the lead role in NLEX also going 8-3 in the elimination round. He had 18.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, a league-best 7.2 assists and 1.3 steals.
READ: PBA: Zavier Lucero stays hot for unbeaten Magnolia
Lucero emerged as Magnolia’s best player in only his third conference with the team and produced 37.3 SPs for fourth in the derby on 18.9 points and 8.0 rebounds.
TNT’s Calvin Oftana rounded out the top five with 35.4 SPs, and could be in consideration should the Tropang 5G hurdle Lucero and the Hotshots in their quarterfinal faceoff that was stretched to a rubber match.
Completing the top 10 are Phoenix’s Jason Perkins (35.3), Converge’s Justin Arana (34.6) and Justine Baltazar (34.6), Barangay Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar (34.2) and NorthPort’s Joshua Munzon (32.3).
Forty-five percent of the stats will be used as criteria to determine the BPC, with the rest coming from the media (30%) and players (25%).
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The top five players after the semifinals will emerge as official candidates for the coveted award.
