JUNE Mar Fajardo welcomed the support that he got from San Miguel Beer snipers which made his job a lot easier in a 102-90 victory over Ginebra in Game One Of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals on Friday night.
With Arwind Santos, Marcio Lassiter, and Von Pessumal all finding their marks from beyond the arc, Fajardo didn’t have to do most of the heavy lifting as he scored a conference-low nine points on 4-of-5 shooting after coming in averaging 22.8 points in the eliminations.
And the four-time reigning MVP, who finished with seven boards, three assists, and one steal in 30 minutes, doesn’t mind having this kind of offensive production as long as they come out victorious.
“Walang problema sa akin,” Fajardo said. “Ang importante sa akin manalo kami. Di kami nagpapataasan ng score ng mga teammates ko. Credit din sa kanila dahil ang ganda ng nilaro nila. Nag-step up lahat, credit kay Arwind, kay Von, lahat. Ang ganda ng nilaro nila.”
Fajardo also credit the Gin Kings defense for limiting him to single-digit scoring, forcing him to kick the ball back out or commit turnovers (he had four in the game).
“Maganda talaga ang depensa nila sa akin,” Fajardo said. “Kailangan kong hanapin yung open na kasama ko. Pagtanggap ko ng bola, andun agad yung double team. Maganda ang depensa nila.”
“Kailangan lang namin mag-adjust kung ano yung dapat naming i-adjust,” he added ahead of Game Two on Sunday night. "Kailangan naming i-practice yun. For sure maga-adjust din 'yung kabila.”
Fajardo, though, wouldn’t mind the challenge of having the injured Greg Slaughter back as his defender.
“Sana di grabe ang injury ni Greg,” Fajardo said of his Cebuano rival. “Ayaw natin na may nai-injure. Hopefully makabalik agad siya.”
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