EVEN a seven-time MVP knows he can still work on his game.
June Mar Fajardo admitted needing to improve his perimeter defense that looked suspect in San Miguel’s shock 106-95 loss to Terrafirma in the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals on Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The SMB center was forced to go out of his comfort zone in the paint to close out on Dyip counterpart Isaac Go, who still torched them with six three-pointers on the way to scoring 22 points in the Dyip’s upset victory over the twice-to-beat Beermen.
“Credit kay Isaac. Ganda nung game niya. Dami niyang na-shoot na threes,” Fajardo said.
“Yun yung ia-adjust namin sa next game, kasi hindi lang naman si Isaac ang (maganda shooting), pati si Juami [Tiongson], si [Stephen] Holt. Dami nilang mga shooters,” he added. “Yung game nila sa labas, so kailangan namin mag-step up, taasan namin yung depensa.”
READ Terrafirma brings down No. 1 seed SMB in quarterfinal stunner
On offense, Fajardo was one of the few bright spots for the Beermen, towing them with team-highs of 21 points and 16 boards.
Still, the Cebuano giant is somehow concerned after the Beermen suffered back-to-back losses after starting the all-Filipino conference with 10 straight wins.
But he knows it’s better to lose now than later in the postseason.
“Ito, parang wake-up call sa amin,” Fajardo said. “Sabi ko nga sa inyo, wala ng mahinang team sa PBA. Malakas na yung mga teams. Bounce back. Buti nga nakuha namin yung twice-to-beat tapos nagamit namin.”
And the changes have to start on defense.
“Gagawin ko yung best ko. Maga-adjust ako sa next game,” Fajardo said.
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