THE PBA opened its Season 49 on Sunday with a bang, kicking it off with June Mar Fajardo winning a record eighth MVP award before capping the festivities with the closely-fought match between Meralco and Magnolia as the Governors’ Cup officially got underway.
The season opener also featured the traditional parade of teams along with celebrity muses who added glitz and glamour to the three hour affair.
On stage, selected players participated in several dance numbers including the hit ditty “Salamin, Salamin' by Bini, while an all-PBA band with Russel Escoto on guitar, Japeth Aguilar on drums, Keith Datu on keyboards, and the trio of Larry Muyang, Arvin Tolentino, and Robert Bolick on vocals, did a rendition of Paroka Ni Edgar’s hit song ‘Picha Pie.’
And on court, Chris Banchero of Meralco lit up the Smart Araneta Coliseum when he made history by becoming the first player to score from the novelty four-point area during the Bolts-Hotshots tussle.
Below are some of the takeaways in the 49th season opener of Asia’s pioneering pro league.
1.JURY STILL OUT ON FOUR-POINT SHOT – it remains to be seen how this unique new rule will pan out for the season. But obviously, one felt the thrill inside the arena the moment players began to shoot from the 27-feet area, most especially when Banchero made history by converting from four-point range with 10:25 to go in the second period. Soon after, teammate Jolo Mendoza joined the fray by sinking a long bank shot just before the first half ended. Paul Lee followed suit in the fourth quarter when his four-point shot sparked a Magnolia charge from 14-points down. The Hotshots actually almost pulled off a huge comeback, but import Glenn Robinson III’s potential game-winning four failed to hit the mark, allowing Meralco to dodge a bullet.
2.MERALCO CONFIDENCE ON A HIGH – what difference a championship could make. Fresh from their breakthrough title in the recent Philippine Cup, the Bolts went to their game against the Hotshots bearing a different aura. They played with confidence and poise, and didn’t panic when Magnolia made a serious run down the stretch to cut a 14-point fourth quarter deficit to just 97-94 on a corner three-pointer by Robinson. But toughened by their experiences, the Bolts knew what to do in such situation as Chris Newsome, Meralco’s main man and top defender, was on top of Robinson, challenging the import’s game-winning attempt from the four-point area and making the former NBA slam dunk champion miss on his shot as the Bolts took the thrilling win.
3.FAJARDO EXTENDS MVP DOMINANCE – the San Miguel star continue to make a strong case for the bragging right as the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) of the PBA after extending his league record to eighth MVP awards. It was the second straight season he won the plum after briefly yielding it to Scottie Thompson during Season 46 when he was out for the entire year after undergoing surgery on his shin. In all, Fajardo is league MVP in eight of the last nine seasons. His latest conquest saw him beat out former teammate Christian Standhardinger (Terrafirma) and current teammate CJ Perez for the award. And from the looks of it, the product of University of Cebu has no plans of slowing down, saying ‘sana next year ulit’ during his acceptance speech.
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