YOUNG GIANTS FAJARDO & AGUILAR IN TIGHT BPC RACE
The PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup is nearing the playoffs phase, and looming large as an interesting subplot is a veritable battle of the giants for the Best Player of the Conference award.
Petron Blaze dominant center Junmar Fajardo and Ginebra athletic forward Japeth Aguilar, the 2012 and the 2009 top draft selections, are running neck-and-neck in the lead in the statistical points race through the 2013 stretch of the season-opening all-Filipino tourney.
Reigning MVP winner Arwind Santos and Philippine Cup BPC titleholder Jayson Castro are at third and fourth while the season’s top draft pick Greg Slaughter leads the rookie race while also running fifth in the overall race.
Fajardo and Aguilar have gained big headway from the rest with their huge individual stats plus the bonus points gained on their teams’ strong start in the tourney.
As the Philippine Cup resumes Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena, the Gin Kings lead the field with a 9-1 win-loss card, followed by the Petron Blaze Boosters at 8-2.
In the BPC race, Fajardo and Aguilar are running first and second with averages of 43.5 and 41.2 statistical points (SPs), respectively.
They enjoy good distances over the rest, being in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and blocks.
With SP norms of 37.3, 37.0 and 36.5, Santos, Castro and Slaughter complete the Magic Five.
Globalport’s Jay Washington (36.4) is at sixth, followed by Ginebra playmaker LA Tenorio (31.3), Globalport’s Sol Mercado (30.3) then Petron wing players Marcio Lassiter (29.9) and Chris Lutz (28.8).
At 11th to 20th are Alaska’s Sonny Thoss (28.2), Air21’s Asi Taulava (27.6), San Mig’s Marc Barroca (27.5), Talk n Text’s Larry Fonacier (27.4), another TnT stalwart Ranidel de Ocampo (27.2), Rain or Shine’s Jervy Cruz (26.8), Air21’s Joseph Yeo (26.3), ROS’s Jeff Chan (26.2), Marc Pingris (26.0) and ROS’s Paul Lee (25.2).
Slaughter is the runaway leader among the freshmen.
Globalport’s Terrence Romeo, who led the scoring race for sometime early in the tourney, is Slaughter’s closest pursuer. But with an average of only 23.8 SPs, the former FEU stalwart is outside the Top 20 in the overall list.
San Mig Coffee’s Ian Sangalang (20.1) is at third followed by Rain or Shine’s Raymond Almazan (17.8), Globalport’s RR Garcia (17.5), another Globalport freshman Justin Chua (14.6), and ROS’s Jeric Teng (12.4) and Alex Nuyles (12.3).
Standing out with impressive all-around numbers are Fajardo with averages of 17.25 rebounds, 15.5 points, 3.0 blocks, and 1.62 assists and Aguilar with 19.8 markers, 9.5 boards, 3.8 blocks and 1.4 dish-outs an outing.
Castro is the scoring leader, Fajardo is the dominant rebounding power while Tenorio sets the pace in playmaking.
Castro leads the scoring race with an average of 20.67 points per game, closely followed by Washington (20.40) and Mercado (20.20).
The vastly improved Aguilar is a fourth with a 19.80-point norm, followed by Santos (16.90), Fajardo (15.50), reigning scoring champ Gary David (15.40), Yeo (15.40), Slaughter (15.40) and Lutz (15.2) to round out the Top 10.
Fajardo, Washington, Slaughter, Santos and Aguilar are also in the Magic 10 in rebounding.
The Petron Blaze behemoth, missing their last two games due to a bruised knee, is the frontrunner with 17.250 a game, then come Taulava (13), Washington (10.7), Slaughter (10.4), Santos (10.2), Espinas (10.1), Aguilar (9.5), Rabeh Al-Hussaini (9.0), Marc Pingris (8.7) and Harvey Carey (8.6).
In the business of playmaking, Tenorio is No. 1 with 7.5 assists per game. Next are Mike Cortez (6.4), Yeo (5.7), Lutz (5.2), Alex Cabagnot (5.2), Castro (4.8), Ross (4.7), Alapag (4.571), Mark Barroca (4.5) and Mercado (4.3). (SB)
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