JUSTIN Arana is looking forward to the first-ever PBA semifinal appearance of Converge in franchise history.
And likewise, he’s relishing his first time to be in the running for the Governors’ Cup Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award.
As the FiberXers clinched a spot in the best-of-five semifinal series against top seed NLEX, the 6-foot-7 Arana also enhanced his chance of contending for the conference’s highest individual plum.
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Prior to the playoffs, Arana and teammates Justine Baltazar and Juan Gomez De Liano, along with Terrafirma’s Maverick Ahanmisi were in the Top 5 of the race for the BPC award which NLEX shooting guard Robert Bolick leads.
Arana didn’t hide his wish to become a BPC winner someday.
“Malaking bagay para sa akin na nasa race ng Best Player of the Conference. Hindi ko maitatanggi na siyempre, pangarap ko rin yan as a player,” said the big man out of Unversity of Santo Tomas and Arellano University.
“For sure, wala namang player na hindi hahangarin na makakuha ng award na yan. Malaking bagay para sa akin yan,” added the former Rookie of the Year and a member of the Mythical Second Team last season.
But he knows his chance at winning it – and even those of his two Converge teammates – rests solely on how far the FiberXers can go in the playoffs.
“Kung matalo kami, kumbaga wala rin, e. So kailangan naming manalo or makaabot ng finals para at least, mataas 'yung chance namin na makuha yung award na yan,” said the 27-year-old Gilas Pilipinas pool member.
Converge cemented its first semifinals stint after beating Rain or Shine, 3-1, in their quarterfinals series.
For the conference, Arana leads the Converge locals in scoring by averaging 17.8 points, while adding 7.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
An interesting sidebar in their semis series is the battle between the top contenders for the BPC plum in Arana, Baltazar, Gomez-De Liano against Bolick.
“So pagtatrabahuhan talaga namin,” he said. “One game at a time lang kami, hindi namin puwedeng madaliin yun kasi mahaba yung series.”
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