BEING the veteran that he is, June Mar Fajardo held up until the final stretch of the nip-and-tuck 2024 PBA Philippine Cup Finals Game Two last Friday.
Good for San Miguel, a Marcio Lassiter trey punctuated their 95-94 come-from-behind victory vs. Meralco to even out the series.
But from the 'Kraken’s' end, it took a lot – of oxygen, in particular — to be a factor on the court in what turned out to be the pivotal last minute.
1 vs. 100, it seemed
That the seven-time MVP and 10-time champion was left breathless when it mattered most is actually a tip of the hat to Bolts bigs Raymond Almazan, Norbert Torres, Kyle Pascual, and most especially, rookie Brandon Bates.
“Oo, hiningal talaga ako. Nakakapagod kasi talaga bantayan si Bates; malikot tapos mabigat," Fajardo shared with SPIN.ph after the game, once he finally got time to catch his breath.
"Tapos ang dami nila. ‘Pag hindi siya, si Raymond, ang haba din, tapos si Kyle, si Torres. Ang dami pang ball screens, pagod na pagod ako talaga."
In the end, however, the gentle giant was thankful that the Beermen knew exactly what to do to work around his exhaustion.
“Dun ako grateful sa teammates ko kasi alam nilang pagod na'ko. Nag-provide sila talaga ng help sa'kin,” he said.
High praise for high-performing Bates
As Fajardo acknowledges it's quite a challenge going head-to-head with Bates, he also sees a bright future for Meralco's 6-foot-9 energizer.
“Mataas yung hopes ko sa kanya na mag-dominate din sa liga. Ang laki ng potential, malaki siya, nasa kanya yung height, yung katawan, built ba, and ‘yung hustle,” he said.
Looking forward to more faceoffs in the future, he continued: “Next few years, mas mahirap na bantayan yan. Lalo ako mapapagod sa kanya.”
And from one big to another, the 'Kraken' also has words of advice for the 27-year-old Bolt.
"'Yung free throws, pareho kami, need namin i-work out 'yun. At sa kanya, more aggression lang sa poste," he added.
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