FAJARDO LEADS STATS RACE
San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo is on target for a second Best Player of the Conference citation as he once again topped the statistical points standings at the end of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations.
The 6-foot-10 Cebuano center normed 12.6 points, 10.7 rebounds (best among the locals), 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.9 blocks to garner 31.71 average statistical points (SP).
Not far behind is teammate Arwind Santos with his 31.67 SP.
The Talk n Text duo of Ranidel de Ocampo and Jayson Castro finished third and fourth, with 30.2 SP and 30.1 SP, respectively.
Rounding out the top five is another SMB cog in Marcio Lassiter, who finished with 28.0 SP.
Asi Taulava of Air21 (26.1), Rain or Shine’s Paul Lee (25.7), San Miguel Beer’s Chris Ross (25.3), Ginebra rookie Greg Slaughter (25.2), and Meralco’s Gary David (24.3) complete the top 10.
All in all, four Beermen in Fajardo, Santos, Lassiter, and Ross finished in the top 10, while six Tropang Texters entered the top 20, namely de Ocampo, Castro, Jimmy Alapag (11th), Nino Canaleta (tied for 12th), Larry Fonacier (14th), and Kelly Williams (16th).
Fajardo is eyeing back-to-back Best Player of the Conference awards after bagging the BPC in the Philippine Cup. Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Mark Caguioa was the last one to achieve that feat, being named as the BPC in the 2012 Commissioner’s and Governors’ Cups.
In the Best Import race, Gabe Freeman led the list with 54.0 SP for his debut game in a Barangay Ginebra jersey.
Following him is Meralco’s Darnell Jackson (52.3 SP), SMB’s Kevin Jones (51.9 SP), Talk ‘N Text’s Richard Howell (51.6 SP), and Barako Bull’s Joshua Dollard (49.4 SP).
Though Fajardo and Freeman lead the statistical points at the end of the eliminations, the stats until the end of the semifinals will still be included in the computation.
Aside from stats, players, media, and the PBA Office will also cast their votes.
The Best Player of the Conference and the Bobby Parks Best Import awards will be given before the Game 3 of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals. (RL)
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